School of Optometry

Phone:

812-855-4979

Email:

hitzema@indiana.edu

Biography

Associate Clinical Professor Emeritus Steven A. Hitzeman received his A.B. in Biology in 1972 and his O.D. in 1976 from Indiana University. For more than 35 years at the Indiana University School of Optometry, he taught sports vision in the optometry program, provided clinical instruction regularly in the school’s clinics, and conducted screenings of athletes for all sports in the Indiana University Athletic Department. He was the director of the Sports Vision Program at the School of Optometry. He had served as director of clinics, director of residencies, and director of external rotations for 15 years before resigning those responsibilities in 2009.

He is past-chair of the American Optometric Association’s Sports Vision section as well as chair of Screening Services for the AOA Sports Vision section. He is chair of the AAU Junior Olympics Screening Program that he started over 15 years ago and was on the vision screening teams for the 1991, 1995, and 1999 International Special Olympic games and the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. He is past president of the Indiana Optometric Association, being elected to that position in 2007.

The Indiana Optometric Association recognized him as Optometrist of the Year in Indiana for the year 2000. He was awarded this honor for outstanding service to the IOA, the AOA, and the profession in the areas of teaching, community service, and volunteerism. He has taught numerous continuing education courses for the American Optometric Association, the American Academy of Optometry, the National Athletic Trainers Association, the American Academy of Sports Medicine, the Indiana Optometric Association, and other state association meetings—and was the keynote lecturer at the International Conference of Athletic Training and Health at the National College of Physical Education and Sports, Taipei, Taiwan.

He was awarded the American Optometric Association’s Sports Vision section Sports Vision Optometrist of the Year at the 2005 AOA Congress. He is currently a consultant to TaylorMade Golf and worked with the company on the Ghost putter and the R 11 driver.

Education

• Doctor of Optometry, IU School of Optometry (1976)
• A.B. in Biology, Indiana University (1972)

Courses taught

• Fourth-Year Optometry Clinic (V 885)
• The Optometric Profession (V 754)

Research

• Sports Vision University with American Optometric Association
• Eye movements in sports with emphasis in performance and concussion

Publications

• Daniels J, Cooper T, Hitzeman SA, Beckerman S, Port NL (2012) “Where’s Waldo and the Development of Small-Saccades/Microsaccades from Toddling to Retiring. Program No. 419.07. 2012 Neuroscience Meeting Planner. New Orleans, LA: Society for Neuroscience, 2012. Online
• Port NL, Daniels J, Hoffa T, Hitzeman SA, Beckerman S (2012) The development of microsaccades from toddling to retiring. Thirty Seventh Annual Interdisciplinary Conference.

Presentations

• Mississippi Optometric Association, “Sports Vision University” 4 hrs of CE., American Optometric Association Continuing Education; Jackson Mississippi, November 2, 2012.
• Virginia Optometric Association, “Sports Vision University” 4 hrs. of CE. American Optometric Association Continuing Education; June 23, 2012. Williamsburg VA
• Indiana University School of Optometry Summer Continuing Education Program, “Sports Vision Update”, 2 hrs. CE credit, Indiana University CE, August 13, 2011, Bloomington, IN
• American Optometric Association Continuing Education, “Sports Vision University” 4 hrs. of CE., New England College of Optometry, September 24, 2011. New England College of Optometry, Boston, MA
• American Optometric Association Continuing Education, “Sports Vision University” 4 hrs. of CE., Southern College of Optometry, November 5, 2011. Southern College of Optometry, Memphis, TN