A pair of Mississippi Optometric Association leaders were named to the Top 40 Under 40 Class of 2010, a prestigious awards program held annually by the Mississippi Business Journal.

 

Suzanne S. Cunningham, OD, an optometrist at Curtis Optometry Clinic and Dispensary in Columbus, is president of MOA. Arthur Reggie Dampier, Jr., OD, president of Ridgeland Eyecare Center and Family Eyecare Center in Jackson, is vice president of the statewide association. Both were recognized as MOA Young OD of the Year—Cunningham in 2006; Dampier in 2007.

 

MOA peers praised both optometrists for their early career contributions to the profession of optometry and community service.

 

“As one of the youngest officers in the history of our association, (Dr. Cunningham) has been giving back to the field of optometry since she graduated from Southern College of Optometry,” said MOA executive director Linda Ross Aldy. “She immediately began working with the political action committee and then was chosen to begin rotation through the executive board of the Mississippi Optometric Association, where she now serves as president. Dr. Cunningham has managed to do all of this while becoming a new mother and maintaining an active practice in her hometown.”

 

Steven Reed, past president of MOA, said Dampier “has used his talents and training to help educate people about the importance of eye care. He’s a wonderful role model who cares very much about the community and about his profession.”

 

Even though Cunningham has had great success in a relatively short period of time—Southeastern Council of Optometrists selected her Young Optometrist of the South in 2007—she’s more excited to discuss a service project that netted no publicity, no accolades. It’s the sort of quiet, behind-the-scenes work that her peers emphasize makes her a standout at the young age of 34.

 

“We spent a week in Coronado, Costa Rica,” Cunningham explained, “performing eye examinations on nearly 1,000 patients by the end of the week. We prescribed eyeglasses, treated pathology, and dispensed eyeglasses, which had been donated through Lions Clubs in the USA. It was truly amazing to be able to make such a difference to so many lives.”

 

Cunningham earned a biology degree from the University of Alabama in 1998, and a doctor of optometry degree from the Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tenn., in 2002. After working for three years for Professional Eyecare Associates in Ridgeland and Clinton, she relocated to Columbus, where she joined Curtis Optometry Clinic and Dispensary. There, she performs vision screenings for all Noxubee County and Columbus Municipal School District elementary schools, much of it on her own time, in addition to providing primary eye care in the family-oriented private practice.

 

She is a charter board member of the local Link’d Young Professionals, and a member of the newest provisional class of the Junior Auxiliary of Columbus. A 2008 graduate of Leadership Lowndes County, she serves on the governmental affairs committee for the Columbus-Lowndes Development Link. Professionally, she serves as a delegate member of the American Optometric Association, and state chair of InfantSEE, a national public health program for infants. 

 

Earning an advanced degree was merely a building block for a multifaceted career for Dampier—a professional optometrist, successful entrepreneur, community leader and reliable volunteer.

 

“The word ‘young’ … shouldn’t place a limit on what can be achieved,” said Dampier, who was born in Brookhaven and grew up in Jackson.

 

After high school, Dampier attended the University of Southern Mississippi for two years before relocating to New Orleans. He earned a biology degree from Xavier University in 1992, and then headed to Memphis, Tenn., where he earned a doctor of optometry degree from the Southern College of Optometry in 1997. For three years, he directed the Eye Clinic of West Point in West Point.

 

Then Dampier returned home to metro Jackson. He became president and director of Northpark Eye Clinic in Ridgeland, which serves nearly 5,000 patients annually. Recognized for his work with the Project Insight Vision and Glasses Program with Wal-Mart Stores, he was named a Doctor of the Year by Wal-Mart Vision Centers. The Consumer Research Council of America named him one of America’s Top Optometrists for 2004-05. 

 

Then Dampier flexed his entrepreneurial muscle. In 2003, he began dabbling in real estate, which led to ownership in E&O Properties, Bruin Development LLC, and A&P Property Management LLC.

 

When Hurricane Katrina ravaged the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he knew that many displaced residents from the coastal area and New Orleans had left behind or lost their eyeglasses or contact lenses.

 

“I was looking for a way to help, when I realized that there’s nothing better than what I do every day,” said Dampier, who set aside Friday afternoons to provide eye exams at no cost to evacuees or those affected by the brutal storm. His benevolence has extended to the Student Optometric Service to Humanity, a charitable organization operating exclusively to help provide vision care to areas of the world lacking adequate health resources, and to the Madison Lions Club, where Dampier has played an integral role in fundraising activities to acquire lead dogs and canes for the visually impaired.

 

In 2008, Dampier opened his first private practice, Ridgeland Eyecare Center, followed soon by another primary care eye clinic, Family Eyecare Center in Ridgeland.

 

Dampier and his wife, Jeanna, have four children. “Dr. Dampier is always willing to volunteer his time and energy to the tasks at hand and that’s remarkable for someone with such a busy schedule,” said Jacqueline Mack of New Hope Baptist Church.