CLI names 2025 Culture Award Honorees

The Contact Lens Institute (CLI) has announced the winners of its 2025 Contact Lens Institute Culture Awards, recognizing five U.S. and Canadian eyecare teams and individuals. These honorees were selected for their successful efforts in cultivating contact lens cultures that lead to improved patient experiences and better business outcomes, the group advised. According to the CLI, the award recipients consistently demonstrate the actions and behaviors highlighted in the organization’s See Tomorrow reports. These reports are available for free download on the CLI website.

“We congratulate the 2025 recipients, who represent a broad range of practice settings, career stages, and communities across the U.S. and Canada,” said Stan Rogaski, executive director of CLI. “Each honoree exemplifies how a strong contact lens culture can elevate patient care while also contributing to practice growth and long-term success. Their impacts provide a powerful example for the profession alongside award winners from the prior two years.”

In making the announcement, CLI shared the names and practices of the 2025 Contact Lens Institute Culture Award honorees, lauding their accomplishments over the past year:

• Sheila Morrison, OD, FAAO, FSLS, FCCSO, Mission Eye Care, Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Morrison has a deep passion for contact lenses that drives a culture of continuous staff training, with weekly sessions and hands-on learning that help her team understand the “why” behind patient care. Her commitment to developing skilled, confident staff makes a meaningful difference in patients’ lives and creates a culture where contact lenses are viewed as life-changing tools.
  
• Heidi Pham-Murphy, OD; Thuy Phung, OD; Thomas Murphy; John Baskett, OD; Roman Goals, OD; and Jennifer Fong, OD, a team at Eye Designs Optometry and Visions Optometry in the Sacramento, Calif. area. The practices are focused on “saving eyes and sparking joy” through highly personalized care, tailoring contact soft lens solutions to individual lifestyles, visual demands, and long-term goals. Their team-centered approach emphasizes education, thoughtful follow-up, and real-world performance, ensuring contact lenses enhance both daily function and quality of life.
  
• Joshua Olson, OD, MA, Colorado Eye Center/Sunrise Vision Care, Boulder, Colo. Dr. Olson considers every patient as a potential wearer, ensuring his entire staff is trained to make the option accessible. By offering contact lenses to people of all ages and lifestyles, he helps patients experience added freedom, confidence, and improved quality of life.
  
• Scott Samples, FLCSA, NCLEM, CPOT, Dean McGee Eye Institute, Oklahoma City, Okla. Dr. Samples provides patient-centered care that demonstrates how contact lenses can be transformative tools beyond traditional vision correction. His example inspires peers and demonstrates the power of contact lenses to help patients achieve life-changing outcomes, such as seeing a loved one clearly for the first time.
  
• Susanna Tamkins, OD, Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miami, Fla. Dr. Tamkins’ work is profoundly life-changing, fitting infants and children with contact lenses that restore sight after surgery and support healthy visual development. Her commitment to pediatric care transforms lives and drives efforts to ensure every child receives essential vision care.

All honorees are featured on the CLI YouTube channel, with individual video interviews describing replicable initiatives and patient stories that contribute to their practices’ success with soft contact lenses. The Culture Awards playlist can be viewed here. Nominations for the 2026 Culture Awards are expected to open next summer, the group advised.

CLI’s See Tomorrow initiative explores perspectives and behaviors that can influence contact lens fitting and wear. Its latest, no-cost research report, “Shifting Focus: Generational Perspectives of Contact Lenses & Eye Care,” analyzes how Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X evaluate eyecare providers, practices and products.