Certificate of Fellowship of the Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians for Bertram Nathan

Historical Significance: In the late 19th C and early 20th C, optometrists often travelled overseas to obtain training and qualifications. Some studied for the Fellowship of the British Optical Association (FBOA) and others the Fellowship of the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers (FSMC). Other early Australian optometrists had migrated from the UK and already had British qualifications. The Institute of Ophthalmic Opticians was another UK optometry association that offered a fellowship by examination (FIO) during the first half of the 20th C. Bertram Nathan was the first Chairman of the Optometrists Registration Board 1936. He played a very important role in establishing a four-year university level optometry course in 1940 and in the foundation of the Australian College of Optometry. He was a key figure in steering the new College through internal disputes that threatened its survival in its first years. See his profile in 'People who made history' on this web site. He was Treasurer of the ACO 1955-1956 . He was the first person to persuade the Government of Victoria to make regular recurrent grants to the College that enabled it to appoint its first full time lecturer and later to make a building grant to the College in 1957 that enabled it to build its own building in Carlton in 1960. He was in the armed forces during World War 1. He studied optometry in London near the end of the war gaining the FIOO and the FSMC diplomas before returning to Australia. See also Cat Nos 10, 142, 143, 144, 387, 799, 890. 896. 914 - 916, 967, 1242. He was made an honorary life member fo the College in 1960 See Cat No 1647