PEOPLE

CooperVision named Simon Seshadri as senior vice president of global marketing. Seshadri most recently served as the company’s vice president of marketing for North America.

◄ Mark Mattison-Shupnick has been named chief operating officer for EnChroma, Inc. A master optician, he brings five decades in the eyecare industry to the role and previously served as EnChroma’s vice president of business development.

ic! berlin appointed Sylvia Jensch as chief sales and marketing officer. Jensch, an experienced marketing strategist, has held previous roles at Wella Group (later Procter & Gamble) and ADA Cosmetics International.

◄ Fabrizio Curci has been appointed as Marcolin Group’s CEO and general manager. Curci has held executive roles of increasing responsibility in leading companies, and most recently served as CEO and general manager of Fiera Milano S.p.A.

◄ Smith appointed Francesco Rinaldi Ceroni as general manager. He brings more than 13 years of experience in the eyewear industry in wholesale and retail to the role, serving most recently as vice president of international strategy and business development at Costa.

◄ VSP Global announced the appointment of Chris Enslin as president of Eyefinity. Enslin brings more than 35 years of experience in cloud computing, digital transformation, and retail technology to the role, and most recently served as senior vice president and chief information officer of Visionworks, a VSP Global company.

BUSINESS UPDATES

Hilco Vision has acquired Mississippi-based ophthalmic supplies company Suppleyes, now part of Hilco’s Eye Care and Cure subsidiary.

VSP Vision Care has partnered with Ease, a human resources and benefits software for small businesses, insurance brokers, and insurance carriers, to provide brokers and HR administrators with better access to core employee benefits.

AWARDS

OKIA received the Intertek Green Leaf Mark certification to highlight the company as an environmentally conscious organization for the material used in its sustainable Reshape eyewear collection.

Super Optical has been selected for the 2020 Best of Cincinnati Award in the Optical Goods category by the Cincinnati Award Program.

MISCELLANEOUS

ABB Optical Group, in conjunction with Paragon Vision Sciences, is accepting abstract submissions for the sixth annual Optometry Student Challenge, which will award travel grants of $1,500 each to three third- or fourth-year optometry students to attend the 2021 Global Specialty Lens Symposium, scheduled for Jan. 20-23, 2021, in Las Vegas. The deadline for submission is Oct. 19, 2020.

Essilor Vision Foundation (EVF) and Relevate Health Group are expanding their partnership to help underserved children in the U.S. receive vision exams and glasses. Relevate is supporting EVF by educating independent ECPs about EVF’s See Kids Soar program and enrolling them in it.

IN MEMORIAM

Ronald William De Long, an industry leader, passed unexpectedly on Aug. 9, 2020, in Rancho Mirage, CA, at the age of 78.

He earned his BA at UCLA and MBA at USC and devoted much of his career to low vision. He was a distributor of magnifying aids at his passing and previously served as managing partner of Myoptica, CEO of Vision Advantage International, vice president of sales and marketing with Visionics Corp., and, for many years, vice president of new business ventures at Coburn Optical.

He was past president and founding board member of the Low Vision Council and Low Vision Division of The Vision Council, a former board member of the Contact Lens Manufacturers Assn., and member of the American Optometric Association Low Vision Section. He was also a speaker and author on marketing, quality management, and low vision.

He was born in Los Angeles to the late Ronald and Margaret (Croft) De Long and raised in L.A. and Arcadia, CA. He is survived by wife, Stephanie Kyser De Long, EB’s editorial director emeritus; a sister, Linda Valliant (Bill); five children: Marti Duyshart (Eric), Debbie Suddarth (Jack), Terri De Long, Ronny De Long, and Justin De Long; one stepdaughter, Heather Walter; five grandchildren (Peter and Mark Duyshart, Jake and McKenna Suddarth, Meredith De Long); and two step-grandchildren (Ela Zielinski and Zev Walter).

Whether it was trouncing The New York Times crossword, viewing golf vicariously, or working on his websites, Ron remained a man of many interests. He traveled the world and joyfully settled on small-town desert life in retirement. His wit, wisdom, and dry humor will be dearly missed.

Remembrances can be sent to Keawala’I Congregational Church, Makena, HI, a place he loved dearly, or the UCLA Chancellor’s Blue and Gold Scholarship Fund. He was immensely proud that four generations of De Longs have now graduated from his alma matter.