Our Board of Directors are a group of outstanding people with diverse experience and knowledge, who serve to ensure our purpose and values are executed and provide strategic direction.
Dr Howard Purcell
Howard Purcell is President and CEO of New England College of Optometry (NECO). He has been a leading figure in the vision care industry since 1984. Dr Purcell served as Senior Vice President for the Customer Development Group at Essilor of America (2008 – 2019) and Senior Director at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care (1995 – 2008). Dr Purcell is a Diplomate in the Cornea, Contact Lens and Refractive Technologies Section of the American Academy of Optometry.
Dr Purcell is a graduate of NECO. He started his career participating in a group optometric practice with his father in Miami Beach, Florida, before joining the faculty of Nova Southeastern University of Optometry in 1991. There, Dr Purcell achieved the rank of Associate Professor, was a key principal in the development of the Department of Cornea and Contact Lenses, and served as the Deputy Dean of the College.
Dr Purcell joined the BHVI Board in March 2020 and became Chair in October 2023.
Sandra Bailey
Sandra Bailey is a Yorta Yorta woman and former CEO of the Aboriginal Health and Medical Research Council of NSW, a position she has held for 25 years.
Ms Bailey has worked as a Solicitor for the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services, and served as Head of the Aboriginal Issues Unit of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. Ms Bailey has served on a number of Ministerial Advisory Committees and boards and been involved in a number of research projects in Aboriginal health including in the areas of child health and resilience.
In recognition of her outstanding service in the Aboriginal health sector, Ms Bailey was awarded the Australian Government Centenary Medal for Contribution to Health in 2003. In 2014, Ms Bailey was acknowledged for her service to the Aboriginal health sector, receiving the Hall of Fame award at the 2014 NSW Health Aboriginal Health Awards.
Anthony Chapman-Davies
Anthony Chapman-Davies has been a practising optometrist since 1979, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Optometry degree with first class honours from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). He completed a Master of Optometry in 1981 and the Graduate Certificate Ocular Therapeutics UNSW in 2011.
Mr Chapman-Davies has been involved in undergraduate and postgraduate education since 1981 at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, UNSW, where he is a visiting fellow. He has lectured widely throughout Australia and internationally over the last 30 years. Anthony is chairman of the Optometric Vision Research Foundation. In 1998, Mr Chapman-Davies was bestowed with the prestigious Josef Lederer Award for Excellence in Clinical Optometry by the Optometry Australia NSW Division
Earl L. Smith III
Professor Smith received his OD and PhD from the University of Houston and served
on the faculty of the UH College of Optometry from 1978 to 2021. During his tenure in
the College of Optometry, he served as the Chair of the Basic Sciences Department, the
Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, the Dean of the College of
Optometry, and as the Chief Health Officer of the University of Houston; he currently
holds the position of Professor Emeritus. His research interests are focused on the
optics of the eye; Professor Smith received the Glenn Fry Award and the Prentice
Medal from the American Academy of Optometry for his research on the role of vision in
regulating refractive development and eye growth. He is a Fellow of the American
Academy of Optometry, an ARVO Fellow (inaugural class), a member of the National
Optometry Hall of Fame and UHCO’s Hall of Visionaries, a past Member and Chair of
NIH NEI’s Central Visual Processing Study Section, and a past member of NIH’s
National Advisory Eye Council.
Ms Yvette Waddell
Non-Board positions
Frank Back
Frank Back was admitted as a lawyer in New South Wales in 1979 and is a partner in the firm Back Schwartz Vaughan. He has more than 35 years experience in private practice. His areas of expertise include residential and commercial property transactions, development of real estate, retail and commercial leasing, estates and the general financing of property related transactions through both traditional sources and through profit participation and joint venture arrangements.
Mr Back has a particular expertise in transactions involving liquor licences and real estate to which those licences are or may be attached. His clients include listed public companies, developers and major private property owners. Mr Back was a director of BHVI from 2009 to October 2023. He was Chair of BHVI from 2018 to October 2023.
