State University of New York College of Optometry
School of optometry in New York, United States
The State University of New York College of Optometry (SUNY Optometry) is a public school of optometry in New York City. SUNY Optometry is home to one of the largest optometric facilities in the nation, and is recognized as a global leader of excellence in optometric education and vision research.
The college was established in 1971 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller and is part of the State University of New York System, the largest comprehensive university system in the United States. SUNY Optometry is the only school of optometry in the New York tri-state area, and the only optometry school within 100 miles of America's most populous city, New York.
History
SUNY Optometry began in 1910 as the Columbia University School of Optometry, which was the first university-based optometry program in the United States. At the time, optometry was mainly eyewear sales and not a true medical profession. By 1928, the New York State saw the benefit of Columbia's program and passed a bill allowing only graduates of a university-affiliated school of optometry to qualify for the state board exam. This set the stage for nationwide recognition of optometry as a true medical profession.
In 1956, Columbia's optometry program shuttered due to not wanting to advance their current bachelor's and master's degrees into a Doctor of Optometry degree, as many other institutions had done at that time. This closure left a void in New York and the entire region, and as a response, a group of Columbia optometrists and philanthropists came together to form the nonprofit, the Optometric Center of New York (OCNY) in 1956.
“State University of New York College of Optometry” enters the record as school of optometry in New York, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what State, University and York can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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The record creator and administrative purpose are central evidence, because official documentation reflects both action and institutional priorities. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q14707354. VIAF identifies the subject as 150221278. The Library of Congress control number is n89603525. Authority coordinates are 40.754, -73.982. 4 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1910, 1928 and 1956.
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This entry incorporates text from “State University of New York College of Optometry” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.