UMSL College of Optometry

02/20/2026

Congratulations to Dr. Carl Bassi for receiving the 2026 Trailblazer Award. Dr. Bassi is a Curators' Distinguished Teaching Professor and Director of Research at UMSL College of Optometry, where he has served the university since 1988. Throughout his career, Dr. Bassi has demonstrated a sustained commitment to innovation that bridges basic science, clinical care, education and even golf. We are so proud of you and we are so fortunate to have you here! Thank you for fresh ideas, innovation and dedication to our students.

02/19/2026

Attention Alumni: We would love to see you on Saturday at the reception. Please stop by and socialize with your classmates. If you are not able to attend this year, please mark your calendar for the Alumni and Friends Weekend, August 14-16, 2026.

02/19/2026

02/16/2026

Eating leafy green vegetables is “consistently associated with” a lower risk for developing primary open-angle glaucoma, according to data published in Nutrients.“Growing evidence suggests that lifestyle factors — particularly dietary patterns and specific nutrients, as well....

02/13/2026

The UMSL Alumni Association is featuring love stories of students who met on campus. Our next featured UMSL love story comes from Matt Falconer (’22) and Lauren Dermody Falconer (’21), who met through the College of Optometry!

Lauren writes: “Matt and I were neighbors at the University Meadows, and he was my assigned patient for mock white coat. We started talking at the White coat party for my class in 2019. He asked me on a date to the Hilton 360 in April 2019, and we have been together ever since! Matt was a year behind me in school, but it was so nice to support each other during tough testing periods, boards, and rotations. He proposed on his home turf at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, DC, in March 2021. I was a fourth year, and he was a third year. We got married September 17, 2022 in St. Louis after he graduated in May 2022. We now live in Ellisville, MO, and are expecting our first child in June 2026! Matt practices at Reed Eye Care Center in Fairview Heights, IL, and I practice at Cherry Hills Family Eye Care in Wildwood, MO, and Sullivan Eye Care in Sullivan, MO. We love having the same career. We love to talk about interesting things we see at work, and we can help each other if we have any questions!”

02/12/2026

Congratulations Dr. Kenton Driver and Dr. Stacy Clark.😍

Dr. Kenton Driver (’90) and Dr. Stacy Clark (’92) met at UMSL, married after graduation, and are now the proud parents of two children, one of whom is also an UMSL student! Kenton writes:

“I met Stacy Clark in optometry school at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. She was a first-year student, and I was a third-year student just beginning to perform patient exams—she was one of my very first practice exam patients. Although we were both raised in western Kansas and both attended Kansas State University, our paths didn’t cross until optometry school.

I began practicing optometry in Salina, Kansas, in October of 1990, and we were married in March of 1993. Together, we formed Drs. Driver & Clark. Our main office remains in Salina, with an outreach clinic in Minneapolis, Kansas, a small town about 30 miles away. I primarily see geriatric patients, while Dr. Clark specializes in scleral contact lenses and vision therapy.

We have two children. Our daughter, Bailey, is the Director of Marketing for a commercial real estate company in Kansas City, and our son is currently a third-year optometry student at UMSL.”