Rowan Candy, professor of optometry and vision science at the Indiana University School of Optometry, began serving as interim dean July 1, as longtime Dean Joe Bonanno returned to the faculty.

Rowan Candy. Photo by the IU School of OptometryCandy joined IU in 2000 and has served as associate dean for research from 2007 to 2011 and executive associate dean for academic affairs from 2019 to present. An internationally recognized practitioner and researcher, she is part of the Vision Sciences Society and a fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.

She is a recipient of the Trustees’ Teaching Award and has three times been voted Professor of the Year by the IU chapter of the American Optometric Student Association.

Funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2003, Candy’s research has modified technical methods based in optics, neuroscience and experimental psychology to give researchers and clinicians an understanding of how the developing brain coordinates its own visual experience through its ocular motor responses.

Candy has agreed to serve as interim dean until a new dean is named. As the extended search process for this position moves forward, additional candidates are being invited for first-round interviews this month.