Grace Kirchner, Leader Correspondent
Robert Meisel
Dr. Robert H. Meisel has been selected to receive the Clintonville School District’s Distinguished Alumnus Honoris award.
The award is given to a past graduate of Clintonville or Bear Creek high school only when the selection committee feels a nominee is worthy of the honor. The award will be presented at the Clintonville High School graduation ceremonies May 28.
Meisel was born in Clintonville in 1947 and attended Woodland, a one-room school for eight grades. After graduating from Clintonville High School, he worked for a year before becoming the first in his family to attend college.
He graduated with honors from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh with a degree in psychology in 1969. He received his Doctor of Optometry degree from Pacific University in Oregon in 1973.
While a fourth-year student in his doctoral program at Pacific, Meisel was awarded a military scholarship and began his career in the United States Navy. After leaving active duty, he joined the Naval Reserve and served with Marine Corps units.
Meisel was assigned to military hospitals in Spain, Italy and Germany during his Reserve years. In the latter stages of his career, he served as an adviser to the Navy surgeon general and with Navy operations at the Pentagon. He retired after 31 years as a captain with many honors, including the Clarence Gibbs Award, the highest honor given to a Reserve Medical Service Corps member.
Starting in 1981, Meisel owned two private practices in San Diego. He served as an expert examiner for the California State Board and Food and Drug Administration investigator for new contact lenses and solutions, and was one of the first recipients of the California OD of the Year award.
Meisel co-founded a laser eye care center in San Diego and served as director and chairman of the board. He sold his offices in 2007 but continues to serve on the board of the San Diego County Optometric Society and was named its Optometrist of the Year in 2014. He was awarded the 2015 Key Person of the Year award by the California Optometric Association.
Meisel regularly donates his time at the Lions Optometric Vision Clinic. He serves as the coordinator of the vision screenings and exams at a school for homeless children in downtown San Diego. He has helped people in Haiti, Peru, Ecuador, Dominican Republic, Panama, Costa Rica, Serbia and Mexico through Lions In Sight. He also helps raise funds for his church and the optometric charities he supports.
Meisel continues to visit Clintonville regularly as much of his family lives here.
He and his wife, Lois, and have been to all 50 states and over 60 countries. They reside in Alpine, California, with their horse, mule and dog.