October 23, 2018
Dr. Rob Pate Former Auburn Safety
Dr. Pate, his wife, Dana, and their five children live in Auburn where Rob was a four year starter and All Conference safety for the Auburn Tigers from 1997-2000.
Dr. Pate has written about his struggles and achievements in two books. A Tiger’s Walk: Memoirs of an Auburn Football Player tells Pate’s entire story, starting when he first picked up a football. The Way of the Athlete explains itself in its subtitle: “The role of sports in building character for academic, business and personal success.”
“The valleys are surrounded by mountains and we keep climbing,” Pate says. “We put our faith in God, so I find my peace in knowing that I’ve given it everything I’ve got.”
He served his patients for eight years at EyeCare Associates in Hoover before joining Basden EyeCare in Auburn.
M. Rob Pate, O.D., of Alabama, was the 2014 Young Optometrist of the Year. Dr. Pate is a 2007 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Optometry.
Dr. Pate became a volunteer for the Alabama Special Olympics while receiving his optometric education. He has chaired the Eyecare Section for the Special Olympics since 2012 and organizes, promotes and directs eye exams at the state games on the campus of Troy University.
Dr. Pate is an active member in the Alabama Optometric Association (ALOA) and was recently elected to the ALOA Board of Directors. He has served ALOA in numerous leadership roles, including Legislative Keyperson and InfantSEE® Committee chairman, for which Dr. Pate has traveled across the state to every local optometric society to lecture on the InfantSEE program, how to perform the exam, and provide ideas on implementing the program within all optometric offices.
He is also very involved with his local school district, for which he serves as the team optometrist for the Spain Park High School football team. Dr. Pate also organizes and performs eye screenings for the Hoover City Schools middle and high school athletes and serves as a preceptor for the Hoover High School Science Academy. In this role, he provides job shadowing internships to high school seniors taking part in the Health Science Academy.
Dr. Pate has participated in several volunteer health screenings, including the Cahaba Hispanic Health Screenings and at Brook Hills Community Church Hispanic Medical Clinic, for which he provided full eye exams for non‐English-speaking patients at no charge.
