Dr. Messner is the Vice President for Strategy & Institutional Advancement at the Illinois College of Optometry. He holds the rank of Professor of Optometry at ICO. Dr. Messner is the immediate past Chair of the Neuro-ophthalmic Disorders Special Interest Group of the American Academy of Optometry. He is a member of the steering committee of the Fellows Doing Research Special Interest Group of the American Academy of Optometry and is a member of the advisory board of the Concussion Legacy Foundation, Heidelberg Engineering, and Horizon Therapeutics. His predominant research interests include ocular structure and visual motor abnormalities with concussion, eye movements associated with the physical act of reading, idiopathic intracranial hypertension, psychophysical characteristics of optic neuritis, wide-field retinal angiography and low contrast color acuity characteristics of macular disease. He is the author of over 150 peer-reviewed publications, textbook chapters, and scientific meeting presentation abstracts. He is a two-time recipient of the American Academy of Optometry’s Service Appreciation award, the 2012 recipient of the Illinois College of Optometry’s (ICO) Alumni Council Educator of the Year. In 2019, Dr. Messner received the Presidential Medal of Honor from Salus University. In 2021, he was named in Newsweek America’s Best Eye Doctors 2021. He is a 24-time recipient of the “Teacher of the Year” award at ICO/Illinois Eye Institute.