Dr. Foutch grew up in South Roxana, Illinois and graduated from Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor's degree in physics and from Purdue University with a Master's in civil engineering. He completed his optometry training and Ph.D. in physiological optics at the University of Missouri – St Louis. Dr. Foutch is a Fellow of the American Academy of Optometry, and his teaching and research interests include environmental vision, gender and age differences in visual processing, macular pigment, and non-therapeutic lasers.