Kurt Blaettler, O.D.

Dr. Blaettler was born in Lucerne, Switzerland. He graduated from an optician and optometry program there in 1975. He then attended Optometry School in Houston, Texas and graduated in 1981.

He worked in optometric practice and as a contact lens consultant in Switzerland from 1981 to 1984. He then moved to Atlanta, Georgia where he worked at the Contact Lens Research Clinic at Ciba Vision Corporation.

In 1986 he purchased the optometry practice of Charles Thompson with offices in Anderson and Williamston and changed the name of the practice to Family Vision. Dr. Blaettler is known for excellent patient care and uses his experience from research in specialty contact lens fittings, like bifocal lenses, gas permeable lenses and keratoconus.

Dr. Blaettler is married and has two children. His hobbies are racquetball and snow skiing.

Dirk Graves O.D., M.N.S.

Dr. Graves was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of South Dakota where he assisted in wound regeneration research at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine.

He then moved to Memphis, Tennessee to attend Southern College of Optometry where he graduated in 1999. While in school, he completed an externship at Southern Eye Associates in Memphis that specialized in ocular disease treatment including cataract and refractive surgery. He also completed an externship at Gottlieb Vision Group in Stone Mountain, Georgia with an emphasis on pediatric eye care, vision therapy, and low vision rehabilitation.

After practicing in Sumter and Manning, South Carolina for two years, he moved to Anderson and joined Family Vision. He is active with the Piedmont Optometric Society, the American Optometric Association and South Carolina Optometric Association, as well as the Williamston Lion’s Club.

He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children: Rebekah, Daniel, and Aidan. Dr. Graves rarely enjoys golf but persists in tormenting himself a few times a year on area courses.

MITCHELL J. WOLIN, M.D.

Dr. Wolin served on the faculty of the University of South Carolina from 1988 to 1994. He was then a member of a group practice in Anderson for three years before establishing The Center for Advanced Eye Care in Greenville, South Carolina.

He attended Union College in Schenectady, New York where he graduated summa cum laude in a combined college and medical school program. He then attended Albany Medical College where he graduated in 1983.

Dr. Wolin completed his internship at Bridgeport Hospital, a Yale affiliate institution. He completed a three year Ophthalmology residency at Vanderbilt University, followed by a fellowship in Neuro-Ophthalmology in New York City. The next several months were spent in Utah engaging in specialized training in eye socket disorders and oculoplastic surgery.

Dr. Wolin has published a number of papers and spoken extensively on topics in his specialty and subspecialities. He was a principal investigator for the Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Decompresion Trial, sponsored by the National Eye Institute.

Sharaud, his wife, and Dr. Wolin live in Greenville with their son, Neil, and daughter, Kelsey.

Diana C. James, O.D.

Dr. Diana Carlson James was born in Washington, D.C. She grew up in Anderson, SC with Dr. Charles Barr Thompson, Optometrist, her uncle guardian and joined his practice upon graduation from the University of Alabama in Birmingham School of Optometry. She practiced in Williamston, Anderson and Westminster until she moved to Virginia to complete a Fellowship in Ophthalmic Practice with Omni Eye Services, a referral center in Fairfax, VA providing only secondary and tertiary eye services to the metropolitan Washington area.

After completing her Fellowship, she spent the following summer as a volunteer missionary Optometrist at the Lighthouse for Christ Eye Clinic and Mission in Mombassa, Kenya where she met colleague, Dr. Randall Baughman. Having traveled with her husband, Frank, Dr. James has practiced in Virginia and South Carolina while home schooling their son, Jesse, K thru 12th. He is now attending Furman with academic and keyboard scholarships. Dr. James is the third Optometrist in her family and has worked in this practice several times throughout her 25 years of practice. Her hobbies include following her son’s band and her 7 grandchildren’s endeavors, running, swimming, spinning, yoga, cooking vegetarian, gardening and birds.