Awards
- School of Optometry Foley House Basement Key Award - 1987
About Merrill J. Allen, Sr.
Merrill J. Allen's optometric research led to improved safety lighting on automobiles. He was co-founder of the Indiana University School of Optometry where he had a long and distinguished career.
He attended the University of Texas and The Ohio State University. He received his optometry degree from Ohio State in 1941 and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physiological optics from Ohio State in 1942 and 1949, respectively. During World War II, he worked for the National Defense Research Council at The Ohio State University, then as a physicist at the Frankfort Arsenal in Philadelphia (1943-44), and was a commissioned U.S. Naval Reserve officer at the West Coast Rocket Training Command in El Centro, California from 1944-46.
While in graduate school at The Ohio State University, he received a fellowship from the American Optical Corporation. He completed his dissertation research under the guidance of renowned vision scientist Glenn A. Fry, and served as an assistant professor at Ohio State from 1949 to 1953. In 1953 he was one of two faculty members hired by Division of Optometry Director Henry Hofstetter to launch the optometry program at Indiana University.
Throughout his lengthy career at Indiana University, Allen taught courses in physiological optics, vision science, clinical optometry, binocular vision, and vision therapy. He designed and built many pieces of laboratory equipment to facilitate the teaching process. He supervised patient clinical encounters in the vision therapy specialty clinic. Allen published more than 200 research papers. Early in his career many of his publications were in the area of ocular accommodation and binocular visual function and he became well known for his studies in vision therapy and motorist's vision. He designed a number of devices for remediation of binocular vision disorders. He held five patents.
His research in the early 1960's focused on the many factors affecting visibility during the operation of an automotive vehicle. He published "Vision and Highway Safety" in 1970. Additionally, he often served as an expert witness on visual factors in auto accidents in court cases. Consequently, his research and court testimony have led to improvements in automobile and roadway design, namely the placement of brake lights in automobiles and an increase in the brightness of lights on railroad crossings. Allen was able to demonstrate that vision while driving under various conditions could be improved by eliminating tint in windshields, using dark, non-reflective surfaces on the top of dash board panels, avoiding having wax applied to windshields, avoiding dark camouflaging colors in the paint of cars, and other such recommendations. Allen was a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, a Fellow of the College of Optometrists in Vision Development, and a Diplomate of the Binocular Vision, Perception, and Pediatric Optometry section of the American Academy of Optometry. He received numerous recognitions: the Distinguished Optometrist Award from the Iowa Optometric Association in 1968; the Distinguished Service Award from the Indiana Optometric Association 1969; the Research Medal of the British Optical Association 1970; the American Optometric Association Apollo Award 1971;, and the Indiana Public Health Foundation Tony and Mary Hulman Health Achievement Award in Environmental Health in 1990.
In 1987, Allen was presented with the Indiana University School of Optometry Foley House Basement Key Award which recognizes an alumnus who has demonstrated exceptional dedication and/or service to the IU School of Optometry. And, in 2004, Allen was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award by Indiana Optometry in recognition of contributions to optometry over the span of his career.