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Presidential Medal of Honor Awardees
The Presidential Medal of Honor is bestowed upon those who have made significant contributions to their profession and for their service to Salus University.
Dr. Victor H. Bray
Victor Hugo Bray, MSc, PhD, FNAP, joined Salus as dean of the University’s Osborne College of Audiology (OCA) and associate professor in 2009, which paved the way for his most recent accomplishment — a 2020 Presidential Medal of Honor.
Described by his Alma Mater University of Texas at Austin as an “audiology innovator and educator,” Dr. Bray’s leadership as dean of Salus OCA through 2016 helped solidify the University’s Doctor of Audiology (AuD) program, delivering the vision of George Osborne, PhD, DDS, founding dean of the College. Dr. Bray also helped launch the University’s second-generation online AuD Bridge Program, with a focus on international students, including the new Hands On Workshops (HOW) that have been hosted on campus and internationally. Along with the establishment of three online graduate certificate specialization programs for working audiologists — worldwide — which are very unique in the profession’s educational offerings, Dr. Bray was also instrumental in laying the foundation for the online Master of Clinical Science degree in AuD, focusing on international students.
FULL BIOGRAPHY AT SALUS.EDU/VICTORBRAY
Dr. Andrew Gurwood
The news of Andrew S.
Gurwood, OD ’89, Resident ’90,
FAAO, receiving a 2020 Presidential Medal of Honor came as no surprise to fellow faculty. After all, Dr. Gurwood, Pennsylvania College of Optometry (PCO) at Salus professor of Clinical Sciences and cochief of Suite 3 at The Eye Institute (TEI), positioned himself at the head of the class early on in his optometric career when he first became a PCO student in the late 1980s.
Dr. Gurwood has lectured and published nationally and internationally on a wide range of subjects in the arena of ocular disease.
He currently serves on the editorial boards of Review of Optometry where he also serves as the Chair of the Clinical Case Reports Committee. He is on the editorial review boards of Optometric Management Journal, Clinical and Experimental Optometry (Aus), and The Spanish Journal: Optometry. He is a founding member of the Optometric Retina Society, a member of The Optometric Glaucoma Society, a charter (founding) member of The Optometric Dry Eye Society, chair of the Buxmont Optometric Society Continuing Education Committee and serves as the Diagnostic Quiz Columnist for Review of Optometry Journal.
Dr. Gurwood was also named the Albert Fitch Memorial Alumnus of the Year in 2020.
FULL BIOGRAPHY AT SALUS.EDU/GURWOODAWARD
Dr. Neal Nyman
When Neal Nyman, OD, started at PCO in 1986, he wanted to make a contribution to the education of his students. And, over the next 33 years, he most certainly did.
A well-respected clinician who easily imparted knowledge to his interns and residents alike, Dr. Nyman greatly expanded the way PCO approached both ethics and patient-doctor communications prior to his retirement in 2019.
For his many years of dedication to teaching PCO students, he has been named a 2020 Presidential Medal of Honor awardee by the University.
“It’s a great honor and very humbling,” said Dr. Nyman on receiving the award. “It’s a cap to my career and I’m very proud to join my esteemed colleagues who have received this award.”
When Dr. Nyman arrived at PCO, the faculty already included his twin brother Jeffrey Nyman, OD, FAAO, associate professor and director of Emergency Services.
He quickly became interested in doctor-patient relationships and since there wasn’t a course at the time in that area, he developed one, which he taught for the next 30 years.
FULL BIOGRAPHY AT SALUS.EDU/NEALNYMANAWARD
Dr. Fern Silverman
Fern L. Silverman, EdD, OTR/L, associate professor of Occupational Therapy (OT) and assistant director of the Doctoral Program in Occupational Therapy (OTD), has been named a 2020 Presidential Medal of Honor Award recipient.
“It was exciting,” said Dr. Silverman of the award. “It was a very feel good moment to be recognized for the effort that I’ve put in to the University and being able to see so many things come to fruition. It was nice to have that acknowledged.”
Dr. Silverman originally came to Salus in 2013 during the OT program’s infancy and then three years later helped launch the OTD program — fulfilling a need in the professional area.
“That giving birth to a new department, basically, was something that was a real bonding experience for everybody involved, especially when it goes as well as ours has, if I may say so,” she said. “It was also a chance to be a little creative and leave your own touch on something. You’re seeing something that you’ve helped build grow and blossom.”
Dr. Silverman has been committed to creating a community of excellence at Salus University by continuing to further expand the OT program.
