Dr. Larry J. Davis (Founders Professor) joined the University in 1993 as an Assistant Professor after having held a full-time faculty appointment in the Department of Ophthalmology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine where he also served as Director of the Contact Lens Service from 1988-1993. He served as Dean and Associate Professor of the College from 2000-2022.
He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry and Diplomate of the Cornea and Contact Lens Section. He has served on the Scientific Program Committee of the academy. Dr Davis is a past President of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry (ASCO), the Saint Louis Optometric Society (SLOS), the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO), and the Heart of America Eye Care Congress. He completed the inaugural yearlong UM-System Leadership Development Program for Department Chairs and was one of three academic leaders selected by ASCO to participate in a yearlong leadership program for administrators of health professions training programs. In 1999 the students at UMSL selected him as Outstanding Optometric Educator of The Year. He was awarded Optometrist of the Year in 1994 and Distinguished Optometrist for 2002 by the membership of the St. Louis Optometric Society.
Dr. Davis’s area of academic specialization is cornea, contact lenses and anterior segment ocular disease with special emphasis in refractive management of the diseased and/or injured eye. From 1993 to 2004 he served as the UMSL participating clinic principal investigator for the Collaborative Longitudinal Evaluation of Keratoconus (CLEK) study, a multi-centered observational study of the common corneal disease.
Dr. Davis’s area of academic specialization is cornea, contact lenses and anterior segment ocular disease with emphasis in refractive management of the diseased and/or injured eye. He has authored or co-authored more than 50 scientific papers, book chapters and abstracts.
