Jessica Pagonis earned her BS in Biology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She joined The Optical Society as a meeting manager in 1998. She then joined the National Recreation and Park Association, also as a meeting manager. After two years, she moved to National Conferencing, Inc. and later to USIS before returning to The Optical Society. Today, she is Director of Meeting Operations at Optica. She received the 2019 Treasurer’s Award “For exceptional leadership, the ability to manage parallel and conflicting components of a conference with strategy and focus, and for cultivating an enjoyable work environment.”