From Compassion to Leadership: Phernell Walker’s Vision for Opticianry

Long before Phernell Walker became a master optician and the first Black chair of the American Board of Opticianry, a childhood encounter gave him a reason to care about sight. Speaking with Tarrance Lackran at the United Opticians Association Leadership Conference in Chicago, Walker traced a remarkable journey from poverty and limited expectations to national leadership, while outlining the urgent work still needed to strengthen opticianry across the country.

Walker grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida, where his mother raised three children after his father died. She worked during the day, attended college and held a second job at night. Watching her persevere taught Walker to work through adversity and refuse to let others determine his future.

One of the most formative influences in that future was May, an elderly neighbor who cared for him after Head Start. Walker did not initially realize she was blind. When she explained that she could not see the flowers in her garden—or even see him—five-year-old Walker took her hand and promised, “I’m gonna tell you everything that I see, and I’ll be your eyes.”

May’s death left him heartbroken, but the experience gave him an early sense of purpose. He did not yet understand how he would help people see; he simply knew that he wanted to make a difference.

Growing up as a poor Black child in the South, Walker encountered people whose expectations for him were narrower than his own. Although he respected the occupations suggested to him, he wanted the freedom to choose a larger path.

That determination eventually led him to become a master optician, a distinction requiring advanced examination, research and demonstrated expertise in areas such as physical optics, lens design and ophthalmic materials. For Walker, pursuing mastery was about more than earning a title. It was a response to the feeling of being underestimated and a commitment to serving patients at the highest level.

“You are the author of your journey,” he told Lackran, reflecting on what he would say to his younger self.

Walker now carries that philosophy into his leadership of the American Board of Opticianry and the United Opticians Association. His priority is creating a consistent, protected definition of an optician throughout the United States.

Only 22 states license opticians, he explained, producing wide differences in training, professional recognition and mobility. In some unlicensed states, a person may enter the role without meaningful educational or certification requirements. Walker believes the profession’s greatest threat is its own failure to seize the opportunity for unity.

That work includes strengthening certification, protecting professional titles and allowing opticians to practice more fully according to their education. It also means increasing awareness of opticianry in communities where young people may never encounter it as a career option.

Education has remained central to Walker’s impact. While working in Texas, he began teaching evening optical courses and personally supplied students with notebooks. Those lessons later became Pure Optics, a book now used by opticians and educational programs across the country.

For Walker, however, success is measured less by titles than by the people he helps advance. Lackran described him as a leader who does not close the door after entering a room, but instead looks for others who deserve an opportunity.

That may be the clearest expression of Walker’s legacy: turning one childhood promise into a lifelong commitment to help people see—and helping a profession see what it can become.