Since March 2015, Dr. Dana Leveston Salgado ’95 has been practicing primary care optometry with a specialization in contact lenses in her own two private practices in upstate New York, one in Albany and the other in Chatham. Her previous work history includes five years working in an ophthalmology practice and five years working in retail optometry.

Dr. Salgado had the opportunity last spring to return to Emma Willard School to participate in a presentation hosted by HOSA, a student organization that centers around students who are interested in healthcare professions. “Interacting with the students who attended the panel discussion revealed a highly gifted, motivated, and talented group of women who are sure to shape our future in the medical world,” she shares. 

 

Dr. Salgado was elected as the Chair of the NYS Board of Optometry and is currently serving a second five-year term on the Board.  Additionally, Dr. Salgado has been a member of the National Association of the Regulatory Boards of Optometry since 2019. Dr. Salgado represented NYS as the voting member at the National ARBO 2022 meeting and has been on ARBO since 2019. Dr. Salgado also sits on the board of directors of the Albany Executives Association and was awarded the AXA Executive of the Year award in June 2023.

Since 2019, Dr. Salgado has served as a speaker for Bausch & Lomb and travels throughout the country educating doctors on the fitting of premium multifocal and astigmatism contact lenses. In March of 2024, Dr. Salgado was honored by presenting at the National Sales Meeting. 

Dr. Salgado has served as a mentor for women who are small business owners and was published in the May/June 2020 edition of Modern Optometry.

“During my recent visit to Emma, I was blown away by both the students and the campus,” notes Dr. Salgado. “Memories came flooding back from my four years at Emma, but the updates to the campus in the past 29 years were impressive.”