Summer 2008 - ICO Worldwide - Illinois College of Optometry

EYE ON FACULTY: A GENTLE MAN - DR. DICK TENNANT
The E. Richard Tennant
Scholarship Endowment
was established to support
student scholarship. This
year, one student was
awarded $1,500. Call
(312) 949-7075 for more
information.
Thank you Dr. Tennant,
Thank you. These two words have not been
said enough to Dr. E. Richard Tennant!
Thank you for mentoring me in optometric
education, a position that I have enjoyed for
over 32 years.
Thank you, Dr. Tennant, for teaching me the
value of treating students as equals in the
academic arena. You taught me that education
is not about making students learn, but
allowing students to learn.
Thank you, Dr. Tennant, for believing that I
had the ability to teach optics. I do not know
what you saw in me, but because of you I
have tried to do my very best to help students
not only understand optics as it relates to
clinical practice, but to use optics to improve
patient outcomes. At times I was frustrated
with teaching optics, but in 1986, Dr. Tennent
told me to be myself, not to copy what others
have done, but to bring my own perspective
and always be honest with students. Dr.
Tennant was always the teacher, and he led
by example.
Thank you, Dr. Tennant for teaching me that
one person cannot know all there is to know
about optics, but one should know how to
search for answers and learn from the experience.
Thank you Dr. Tennant for conveying
this in your lectures with knowledge, style,
grace, dignity, and humor.
It has been over 20 years since I last talked
with Dr. Tennant. Although I am getting
older, I still love what I am doing! Thank
you Dr. Tennant, for giving me the opportunity
to follow the path you created. You are
in my thoughts and I am in your debt. There
are very few in academics that can be defined
as true “teachers” and Dr. Tennant is at the
top of the list.
Neil Hodur, OD ’75
15 / ICO MATTERS SUMMER 2008
HOMAGE TO A GENTLE MAN,
By Joseph C. Phillips, OD ’59
I admired and revered Dr. Tennant, who touched my
life with such grace that even after all these years, I
am still thankful.
Dr. Tennant was a Jewish physician who escaped the
Nazis in Austria. When he arrived in America, he
landed in New Orleans. He spoke no English.
Because he wasn’t allowed to work as a physician in
America, he instead became a dockworker. It was
there, on the docks, he learned English.
After he became proficient in English he still wasn’t
allowed to take his medical boards, so he went to
optometry school. Eventually Dr. Tennant became
Clinic Director at Illinois College of Optometry,
where he also taught the first year course in geometric
optics.
Most people would agree that geometric optics is a
difficult subject, but not for Dr. Tennant. He was a
spellbinding lecturer who would begin his lectures and
in what seemed like a mere five minutes he would
step off the dais, turn and walk out of the room; class
was over. I remember being amazed to look at the
clock and see the second hand going by the hour, the
exact second the class was supposed to end.
He was tall and stately, about six-one. His face was
thin, his hair salt and pepper. His most distinctive feature,
to me, was his hands, which were long-fingered
and graceful, like those of a concert pianist. In fact,
everything about Dr. Tennant was graceful, genteel,
and cultured. He spoke in heavily accented English
but there was no effort involved in understanding
every single word he spoke.
In 1959, at 22 years old and in the last semester of my
senior year, I was one of the youngest students to
graduate from ICO. As one might expect from someone
so young, I was supremely confident and sure of
myself. I excelled, I thought, in doing exams at the
clinic and was very good at eliciting quick responses
from my patients.
Typically, we were given an hour-and-a-half to do an
exam. When we were finished we took our findings to
So many members of the ICO
community were touched by
Dr. E.R. Tennant when he was
on faculty at the College. To
mark the 20th anniversary of
his death, we asked you to
send memories of Dr. Tennant.
Here are the sentiments we
received. Some have been
edited for space or clarity.
a staff doctor for review. The two of us would then
write the patient’s prescription.
One day at the clinic, just weeks before graduation,
I quickly finished examining an intelligent and responsive
patient and took my findings for consultation to
the staff doctor who, that day, was Dr. Al Bifano. Dr.
Bifano didn’t believe a good exam could be given so
quickly and he proceeded to inform me of that fact,
letting me know in no uncertain words I couldn’t possibly
have done the patient case history and all 21
points in 20 minutes. He marched into the examining
room to check my findings. After about five minutes
with the patient, I felt Dr. Bifano was bad mouthing
me, and this made me angry.
Dr. Bifano was a small man, and I was a strong, strapping
farm boy. I’m ashamed to say I became incensed
with the unfairness and perceived badmouthing to my
patient. Dr. Bifano turned and left the room. A few
minutes later, over the loudspeaker, I heard the voice
of Dr. Tennant, “Dr. Feelips, please come to Dr.
Tennant’s office.”
I stepped into Dr. Tennant’s office to see Dr. Bifano
standing at the side of Dr. Tennant’s desk. Dr. Bifano
glared at me, visibly angry, his face red and scowling.
Dr. Tennant calmly sat behind his desk, his long-fingered
hands in a prayer-like position, the fingertips of
one hand touching the fingertips of the other, gently
and rhythmically tapping together, apart, together,
apart, together. Dr. Tennant turned to Dr. Bifano and
said, “Is zat all, Dr. Beefano?”
Dr. Bifano turned abruptly and left, closing the door
behind him. Dr. Tennant looked at me for what
seemed a very long time, his hands still in that prayerlike
position, fingertips thoughtfully tap, tap, tapping.
I was scared. I knew I was in trouble. Dr. Tennant had
the power to destroy my career, throw me out of
school or at the least make me take the entire year
over again.
Finally he said, “Dr. Feelips, I vud not like to be
21 again for all zee tea in China. Zat is all. You’re
excused.”