{"id":32618,"date":"2026-01-23T13:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-23T18:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom2\/2026\/01\/23\/alumni-qa-meet-keaton-van-thof-12\/"},"modified":"2026-05-19T14:34:48","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T18:34:48","slug":"alumni-qa-meet-keaton-van-thof-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/01\/23\/alumni-qa-meet-keaton-van-thof-12\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumni Q&A: Meet Keaton Van Thof ’12"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Keaton<\/a>

Keaton Van Thof<\/p><\/div>\n

Occupation: <\/strong><\/p>\n

Surgical Specialist Director, Glaukos Corporation<\/p>\n

What initially inspired you to attend NECC? Where were you on your professional\/personal journey prior to enrolling?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Looking back to when I decided to attend NECC brings back several memories. I had just returned to my hometown after attending an out of state university. I didn\u2019t have the best experience there and was looking for a place where I could push my education forward while still being able to focus on working and spending time with my friends. NECC was a great option to ensure my education did not fall from my priorities and I was able to stay out of significant debt while I was attending. Almost all my credits from my previous university transferred over to NECC, which made the transition much easier to digest.<\/p>\n

Before attending NECC, my education was focused in exercise science. NECC\u2019s classes helped foster my interest and guide me towards biology. I was able to work full-time and finish my associate degree within a few years. It seemed like a long time then but, looking back now, it happened in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n

In what ways has NECC helped you on your educational and professional path?<\/strong><\/p>\n

NECC was truly the foundation of my educational path. I was able to complete a goal I had set for myself: completing my associate degree. It is also where I learned about the community college connection program, where scholarships are awarded to NECC graduates to attend Boston University to continue their education. NECC gave me time to realize what field I wanted to be working in. What did I enjoy? What wouldn\u2019t feel like work to me? Studying at NECC helped shape my decisions to work in eyecare.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d love to hear more about your career journey. What led you to your current role?\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

My career journey started at LensCrafters, where I worked as a lab technician making glasses. When I graduated from NECC, I got a job as an optometric technician working for an optometrist. After working for an optometrist, I wanted more responsibility and an opportunity to earn certifications, which led me to working for ophthalmologists. While working for ophthalmologists, I developed a real interest in surgery. I ended up working as a Refractive Surgery Technician and earning a number of certifications to further my career and expertise in the OR. From there, I focused on breaking into ophthalmic clinical research where I worked as a clinical outcomes specialist, clinical relations manager, surgical specialist, and most recently, the director of the Surgical Specialist Team.<\/p>\n

What does a typical work day look like for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Every day is different and unique. It makes my job something that I truly enjoy. One week I could be traveling across the world to support clinical research cases in the OR, while other weeks I am on MST calls for several hours a day. I spend a majority of my time training my clinical team and surgeons on the different technologies to help treat glaucoma, cornea, and retinal diseases.<\/p>\n

What do you enjoy most about your work?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The company I work for creates technologies that treat glaucoma, cornea, and retinal diseases. We are changing a treatment paradigm that has been established for many years. What I enjoy most is being a part of bringing those technologies to patients in need. I am extremely passionate about what I do and love the fact that I can share this with others to change the world of eyecare. I also really enjoy working as team toward a common goal. “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.” \u2013 Helen Keller<\/p>\n

Anything else you’d like our audience to know about you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Although I have spent much of my academic and professional life focused toward my goals, I have also been able to maintain a good balance. I have a number of hobbies including: boxing, swimming, basketball, and car racing. I got married and started a family and have traveled all over the world. I believe balance is a key component to the continued pursuit of success.<\/em><\/p>\n

Each month, the NECC Alumni Office shares interviews with our accomplished graduate population through its alumni newsletter. If you have a story to share and would like to be considered for a future edition, please fill in an\u00a0Alumni Update Form<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or email\u00a0alumni@necc.mass.edu<\/strong><\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Through his work as a surgical specialist director, alumnus Keaton Van Thof is changing the world of eyecare for the better.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":37,"featured_media":32621,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[9,681,757],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32618","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-mobile","category-students-alumni"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nAlumni Q&A: Meet Keaton Van Thof '12 - NECC News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/necc.edu\/newsroom\/2026\/01\/23\/alumni-qa-meet-keaton-van-thof-12\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Alumni Q&A: Meet Keaton Van Thof '12 - 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