Betty Harville Brown

Betty Harville Brown was born in Somerville, Tennessee and graduated from Fayette Ware High School as Valedictorian (4.0 GPA) in 1975. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tennessee at Martin in 1979. She attended Indiana University College of Optometry in Bloomington, Indiana and earned her Doctor of Optometry degree in 1983. Dr. Harville returned to Tennessee as the state’s first female African-American optometrist. In 1984, she was hired as an Instructor at SCO. In 2001, Dr. Harville became the first female Optometrist to achieve the title of full Professor at SCO and was also the first female African American Professor of Optometry in the U.S. She retired in August 2020 after teaching at SCO for 36 years.