Tuesday, July 22, 2025
  Announcements, Health

By News and Media Relations

RIO GRANDE VALLEY, TEXAS – JULY 22, 2025 – Dr. Yutaka Maki, a nationally recognized optometric educator and clinician, has been named associate dean for Academic Affairs at the UTRGV School of Optometry. 

Dr. Yutaka Maki, a leading optometric educator, has been appointed associate dean for Academic Affairs at the UTRGV School of Optometry.
Dr. Yutaka Maki, a leading optometric educator, has been appointed associate dean for Academic Affairs at the UTRGV School of Optometry. With more than a decade of leadership experience, he previously served as associate professor at the University of the Incarnate Word. In his new role, he will guide curriculum development and academic policies as UTRGV prepares to launch its School of Optometry in fall 2027. (Courtesy photo)
Maki joins UTRGV with more than a decade of academic and clinical leadership, most recently serving as associate professor and chief of the Binocular Vision and Vision Therapy Service at the University of the Incarnate Word Rosenberg School of Optometry in San Antonio.

In his new role, Maki will oversee academic programs and policies, curriculum development and student academic progress as UTRGV prepares to launch its School of Optometry in fall 2027, pending accreditation. The program recently reached a key milestone with Stage One designation from the Accreditation Council on Optometric Education (ACOE), marking important progress on the path to full accreditation.

“Dr. Maki brings a wealth of experience in optometric education, curriculum development and interprofessional collaboration,” said Dr. William Miller, founding dean of the UTRGV School of Optometry. “He has proven himself to be an excellent educator and was most recently honored by the Texas Optometry Association as the Educator of the Year.  His leadership will be key to ensuring a rigorous and supportive academic environment for our students from day one.”

A licensed optometrist and certified glaucoma specialist, Maki holds a Doctor of Optometry from the SUNY State College of Optometry in New York, a master’s in education from Pace University in New York and a bachelor’s in physics and biology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. In 2025, he was named Educator of the Year by the Texas Optometric Association. 

“I’m honored to join UTRGV and help launch a program focused on clinical excellence, innovation and service,” Maki said. “It’s an exciting opportunity to build something meaningful for the profession and the Rio Grande Valley.”



ABOUT UTRGV

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine and a School of Podiatry, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.

UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, Weslaco, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015; the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016, and the School of Podiatric Medicine in the fall of 2022.