After graduating from Dartmouth College, I had the good fortune to be accepted to medical school at Johns Hopkins. My father, a general surgeon who had completed a fellowship at Johns Hopkins before serving as a trauma surgeon in the U.S. Army during World War II, had been so impressed with Johns Hopkins that he wanted me to apply only to that school. Fortunately, that advice proved wise, and after four years of medical school, I found both a wonderful wife (my classmate, Jan) and a pathway to the incredible field of ophthalmology.

Prior to my medical training, I had never seriously considered ophthalmology as a career. Observing and interacting with such Wilmer faculty as Arnall Patz (my chairman), Ed Maumenee, Stuart Fine, Dick Green, Walter Stark, Ron Michels, Al Sommer, Allan Jensen, Bob Welch, Neil Miller, Harry Quigley — the list goes on — was exciting and inspiring. There was so much to learn, but my professors, my chief residents and my fellow residents were always there to encourage me and help make sure I kept up. After Wilmer, I was fortunate to work for another inspirational figure, Stephen Ryan, who had trained at Wilmer before becoming a department chair in Los Angeles. In 1999, I had the honor of chairing the ophthalmology department at UC Irvine. Then, in 2003, I returned to Wilmer as its sixth director.

During my training, I became interested in the nascent field of keratorefractive surgery, which reshapes the cornea to improve vision, and this became the focus of my clinical career. New laser technologies allowed us to precisely reshape the front of the eye, reducing or eliminating the need for glasses or contact lenses, and millions of people subsequently have elected to have these procedures.

Taking on the role of leading this institute, an international treasure, is a big responsibility. Fortunately, I had two of Wilmer’s former directors on my faculty (Arnall Patz and Mort Goldberg) to provide sage advice, as well as the great support of the Wilmer board of governors, with the leadership of my outstanding board chairs (Rick and Sandy Forsythe followed by Sanford and Susan Greenberg).

My time as director has been characterized by tremendous growth of the institute, driven by a seemingly endless demand for our services to meet the needs of the burgeoning population of aging Americans. The creation of Wilmer’s statewide network of clinics has allowed us to grow our faculty, reduce the wait for appointments and limit the need for patients to travel long distances for care.

Securing the funding for the Robert H. and Clarice Smith Building, which opened in 2009, enabled us to grow not only our clinical practice but also our surgery and research programs, including large engineering initiatives. All funds for the new building came from grateful Wilmer patients and generous Wilmer alumni. Our generous friends have also provided funding to support care for uninsured patients.

New research centers have developed at Wilmer to explore today’s emerging fields including artificial intelligence, nanotechnology, stem cells and genetic eye disease. We’ve seen roughly a tripling of research grant funding and a dramatic increase in the number of annual publications in scientific journals, from an average of 125 to over 700 papers, which speaks to the increasing productivity of Wilmer’s researchers. An important goal has been to encourage entrepreneurship, with 14 companies founded on technology developed in Wilmer’s laboratories.

We have also seen an increase in the number of endowed professorships, from 20 to 80. These professorships provide funds to allow our faculty members to pursue their best ideas in a timely manner. Unique to Wilmer was the launch of the Rising Professorship Program in 2020, aimed at supporting assistant professors just launching careers in their pursuit of revolutionary ideas. I am grateful that of the 80 Wilmer professorships, 14 are rising professorships for our brilliant young colleagues.

As we continue Wilmer’s legacy of training the next generation of leaders, our creation of leadership development and executive coaching programs helps prepare faculty members for key roles within and outside of Wilmer. I am delighted to note that we have trained more women in our residency program and added more women to the faculty over the past two decades than in the combined tenures of all previous Wilmer directors.

The COVID pandemic presented a monumental challenge during my time as director, especially because ophthalmologists were among the top three medical specialties likely to be infected (since we work so closely to our patients’ faces). At a time when most ophthalmology offices were closed in the country, so many of our faculty and residents courageously stepped up to provide care.

Not everyone can claim to have the best possible job in their field. I am one person who can.