Richard E. Castillo

Dr. Rich Castillo, OD, DO, FASOS, is the founding dean of the College of Optometric Medicine at the University of North Carolina Pembroke (2024). He co-founded the NSU-OCO Advanced Procedures Laser and Surgery Course (2000) and served as an NSU-OCO professor and assistant dean for surgical training and education, chief of the NSU-OCO surgical service, and consulting ophthalmologist for over two decades. He is the recipient of the John D. Robinson Clinical Excellence Award of the North Carolina Optometric Society (2025), the Heart of America Eyecare Congress Vision Service Award (2025), the Arkansas Optometric Association’s 2021 "Special Service Award," the Oklahoma Association’s 2017 Distinguished Service Award, named "Distinguished Friend" of the Illinois College of Optometry (2019), acknowledged by the Oklahoma State Board of Examiners in Optometry for outstanding contributions to the advancement of optometric care (2014), and is the recipient of a Special Citatio