Karla Zanik to Serve as Interim Provost at Ohio State University

Karla Zadnik was appointed interim executive vice president and provost at Ohio State University, effective January 1. Dr. Zadnik currently serves as dean of the College of Optometry, a position she has held since 2014, and is the Glenn A. Fry Professor in Optometry and Physiological Optics. She has also served as interim dean of the College of Public Health since July. Dr. Zadnik is the first woman dean of Ohio State’s College of Optometry and the first woman dean of a public school or college of optometry.

“I am grateful for this opportunity to help steward and move forward the incredible work of our faculty, staff and students – all of whom fuel Ohio State’s fundamental mission to teach, learn and discover,” said Dr. Zadnik.

Professor Zadnik is a past president of the American Academy of Optometry and the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, and president of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry. She served a four-year term on the National Advisory Eye Council for the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Zadnik received a doctor of optometry and a Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley School of Optometry.