William Denton

Dr. William J. Denton, OD, is a board-certified optometrist and Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry with over two decades of clinical experience in primary care, low vision, and medical optometry. He currently serves as Lead Staff Optometrist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center in Charleston, SC, where he has practiced since 2014, performing ocular health, low vision, traumatic brain injury (TBI) assessments, and medically necessary contact lens exams. He also directs the facility's Optometry Student Externship program and serves as its Optical Lead, overseeing clinic operations and policy for contracted opticians. Earlier in his career, Dr. Denton spent over a decade at the WJB Dorn VA Medical Center in Columbia, SC, where he served as Chief of the Low Vision Clinic, founded and managed the contact lens and Virtual Glaucoma clinics, and performed weekly teleretinal readings.
Dr. Denton earned his Doctor of Optometry from the Michigan College of Optometry at Ferris State University, where he received the Corning Low Vision Award, and completed a residency in Primary Care Optometry at WJB Dorn VAMC, accredited through the Southern College of Optometry. He holds fellowships from the American Academy of Optometry, the Scleral Lens Education Society, and the Optometric Retina Society, and is Board Certified in Medical Optometry by the American Board of Certification in Medical Optometry (ABCMO). He is licensed to practice in South Carolina and has passed all portions of the National Board of Examiners in Optometry (NBEO), for which he now serves as a virtual grader and council member reviewing exam content for Parts II and III.
Beyond direct patient care, Dr. Denton is active in optometric education and leadership, holding adjunct faculty appointments at several colleges of optometry across the country, including Southern College of Optometry, Pennsylvania College of Optometry, and Nova Southeastern University. He has served as Optometric Residency Site Director at both WJB Dorn VAMC and Ralph H. Johnson VAMC, guiding each program through successful accreditation reviews. His research contributions include numerous peer-reviewed publications and conference posters on topics ranging from scleral lens fitting to rare ocular manifestations of systemic disease, as well as several pending patents for assistive vision technologies developed through the VA's innovation programs. He has been recognized with numerous awards, including the VHA iNet Innovation Award, the Salus University Preceptor of the Year Award, and an appointment to the Medical Advisory Board for Regeneron.