The Clifford M. and Ruth M. Altermatt Professorship was endowed by a gift from Ruth M. Altermatt of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Clifford M. Altermatt, who died in 1996, worked in the agricultural investments industry, retiring from Metropolitan Life Insurance Company. He had glaucoma and was a patient in the Glaucoma Service at UI Hospitals and Clinics under the care of Wallace L.M. Alward, M.D., who holds the Frederick C. Blodi Chair in Ophthalmology in the UI Carver College of Medicine. Ruth Altermatt made her gift in gratitude for her husband's care.

Current Clifford M. and Ruth M. Altermatt Professor in Glaucoma 

Glaucoma specialist, Young H. Kwon, MD, PhD, Professor of Ophthalmology

Dr. Donald Beisner received his residency training under Dr. F. C. Blodi and practiced throughout his career in Springfield, Missouri. As an Iowan who studied Engineering in Ames at Iowa State University and a medical student at the College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, he has always felt very grateful for his education and the opportunities he was given.

Dr. and Mrs. Beisner have contributed generously to the Carver College of Medicine and plan on contributing annually to support a professorship. They also plan on making an estate gift to support an endowed professorship to support a distinguished faculty member whose primary interests are in vitreoretinal diseases and surgery.

Current Judith (Gardner) and Donald H. Beisner, M.D. Professor in Vitreoretinal Diseases and Surgery: 

James C. Folk, M.D. (2007)

The Robert and Joell Brightfelt Professorship in Cornea is made possible due to the generosity of Robert and Joell Brightfelt, of Lake Forest, Illinois, in recognition of the vision-saving care Robert received from University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

For much of his life, Robert dealt with some form of vision loss. After being diagnosed with Fuchs’ dystrophy, an eye disease in which cells lining the inner surface of the cornea slowly start to die off, Robert learned he needed two corneal transplants. Mark Greiner, MD, and his team in the UI Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences performed both transplants and were able to completely restore Robert’s vision. The Brightfelts credit Dr. Greiner and his team for this life-changing experience.

Robert and Joell believe in investing in quality people—individuals who are good at getting things done. As they saw Dr. Greiner’s work first-hand, and learned more about the things his lab plans to accomplish in the future, they were inspired to support this important work.

Current Robert and Joell Brightfelt Professor in Cornea

Mark A. Greiner, MD, was named as the inaugural recipient of the Robert and Joell Brightfelt Professorship in Cornea in March of 2019.

The Chakraborty Family Professorship in Pediatric Genetic Retinal Diseases was established through the generosity of Sayan Chakraborty and Julia Franklin. In addition, Sayan's colleagues at the system software company Workday—including co-founder and co-CEO Aneel Bhusri, co-founder and CEO emeritus David Duffield, and COO Jim Bozzini—contributed to the family's commitment.

Sayan and Julia's 19-year-old son, Jag Chakraborty, inspired this generous collective gift to support researchers focused on advancing diagnostic, preventative, and therapeutic treatments for juvenile X-linked retinoschisis. In 2005, Arlene Drack, MD, first treated Jag at the University of Colorado when he was only a year old. Upon Drackk's return to Iowa in 2008, where she is currently a University of Iowa clinician scientist specializing in juvenile inherited eye diseases, the Chakrabortys were able to maintain a close relationship by visiting annually to receive exceptional care while also learning about the latest research advancements. Their philanthropic impact at Iowa stems from their appreciation of Drack's work and her commitment to furthering this important research. As a first-year honors student at the University of Denver, Jag plans to focus his studies on either clinical therapy or cognitive neuroscience to positively impact those in the greater community.

• Alina Dumitrescu, MD, was named as the inaugural recipient of the Chakraborty Family Professorship in Pediatric Genetic Retinal Diseases in September of 2023.

Marion and Frederick Fuerste Jr. generously donated a portion of their estate to the University of Iowa College of Medicine and the Department of Ophthalmology, in part, to establish the Marion and Frederick Fuerste, M.D. Professorship in Ophthalmology. The gift was given in appreciation of the University of Iowa's excellent academic research and education, as well as the clinical support and friendship provided through the Department of Ophthalmology.

Marion Fuerste was a registered nurse, having graduated from Augustana School of Nursing in Chicago, Illinois. Frederick Fuerste, Jr. M.D. received undergraduate and medical degrees at the University of Iowa before interning at The Cook County Hospital and Jail in Chicago, Illinois. The couple met at the Veteran’s Hospital in Cheyenne, Wyoming where Marion was an operating room nurse and Frederick was a Naval physician. They married in 1948.

After Frederick's completion of an Ophthalmology residency at Milwaukee County and a fellowship at Washington University, St. Louis, the Fuerstes settled in Dubuque, Iowa. Frederick assumed his ailing father’s Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat practice, and Marion continued to assist him in the operating room.

The couple attended the monthly clinical conference meetings held in the UI Department of Ophthalmology where Frederick frequently presented interesting and challenging cases. Frederick and Marion developed close friendships with many of the departmental staff.

There are now four generations of University of Iowa graduates in the Fuerste family. Frederick Fuerste, Sr. received his medical degree, and his wife June Brown Fuerste received her nursing degree from the State University of Iowa in 1921. Frederick Jr. graduated in 1945. Four of Frederick and Marion’s six children graduated from the University of Iowa, and two grandchildren are presently University of Iowa students.

Current and Former Marion and Frederick Fuerste, MD Professors

The first Marion and Frederick Fuerste, M.D. Professor was Jeffrey A. Nerad, M.D. (December 19, 2008 - June 30, 2009)

H. Culver Boldt, M.D. is the second and current Marion and Frederick Fuerste, M.D. Professor (April 2, 2010)

The Captain Jim and Donnita Gross Professorship in Ophthalmology was made possible due to the generosity of the late Jim O’Brien Gross and his widow, Donnita Gross, of Boulder City, Nevada.

The grandson of C.S. O’Brien, the founder of the renowned Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa, Jim originally worked for the Walt Disney Company as an accountant and taught flying lessons. Subsequently, he was hired by Lear Jet as a flight instructor and accountant. Jim was an accomplished pilot and flight instructor with American Airlines for many years, including test flying the Boeing 777 aircraft.

Jim, along with members of his family, established the Lillian C. O’Brien and Dr. C.S. O’Brien Chair in Ophthalmology in 2006, which is currently held by Keith Carter, MD, FACS. Upon Jim’s passing in 2016, Donnita continued the passion of her late husband by providing support to establish the Captain Jim “Max” Gross Chair in Engineering, the Captain Jim and Donnita Gross Professorship in Ophthalmology, and the Jim O’Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Professorship in Ophthalmology. The generosity of Jim and Donnita will continue to keep the UI at the forefront of innovation and discovery.

Current Captain Jim and Donnita Gross Fund Professor

Matthew J. Thurtell, MBBS, MSc was named as the inaugural recipient of The Captain Jim and Donnita Gross Fund Professorship in March of 2019.

The Jim O’Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Professorship in Ophthalmology was made possible due to the generosity of the late Jim O’Brien Gross and his widow, Donnita Gross, of Boulder City, Nevada.

The grandson of C.S. O’Brien, the founder of the renowned Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Iowa, Jim originally worked for the Walt Disney Company as an accountant and taught flying lessons. Subsequently, he was hired by Lear Jet as a flight instructor and accountant. Jim was an accomplished pilot and flight instructor with American Airlines for many years, including test flying the Boeing 777 aircraft.

Jim, along with members of his family, established the Lillian C. O’Brien and Dr. C.S. O’Brien Chair in Ophthalmology in 2006, which is currently held by Keith Carter, MD, FACS. Upon Jim’s passing in 2016, Donnita continued the passion of her late husband by providing support to establish the Captain Jim “Max” Gross Chair in Engineering, the Captain Jim and Donnita Gross Professorship in Ophthalmology, and the Jim O’Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Professorship in Ophthalmology. The generosity of Jim and Donnita will continue to keep the UI at the forefront of innovation and discovery.

Current Jim O'Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Professor

Erin M. Shriver, MD, FACS was named as the inaugural recipient of the Jim O'Brien Gross and Donnita Gross Professorship in March of 2019.

The Ronald V. Keech, M.D., Professorship in Ophthalmic Genetics pays tribute to one of pediatric ophthalmology’s most committed leaders, educators, scientists, and researchers. It was made possible by a generous gift from John and Marcia Carver of Rapids City, Illinois.

Ronald V. Keech graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Occidental College in Los Angeles in 1970 and from the University of California School of Medicine in San Francisco in 1974. After a surgical internship, he trained as a resident in ophthalmology at the University of Southern California. He came to University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics in 1978 as a fellow in pediatric ophthalmology. Following six years in private practice in Portland, Oregon, Ron and his family moved back to Iowa where he joined the UI medical faculty in 1985. In 1990, he was made an associate professor and in 1995 was promoted to full professor. He then took over duties as service director of Pediatric Ophthalmology after Dr. Bill Scott’s retirement.

From 2001 until his death in 2007, Dr. Keech held the William E. Scott Chair for Education in Pediatric Ophthalmology. Other acknowledgments of his many contributions to his field included the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Honor Award in 1995, the American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Award in 1996, The Best Doctors in America designation from 1996 through 2007, and the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Senior Honor Award in 2004. In addition to publications, including the Duane’s Clinical Ophthalmology chapter on adjustable suture strabismus surgery, he served on the editorial board of the Journal of AAPOS; as a manuscript reviewer for the American Journal of Ophthalmology, the British Journal of Ophthalmology, and Ophthalmology; and chairman of the American Association for Pediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus Program Committee.

Dr. Keech’s primary areas of research interest included eye movement disorders, pediatric cataracts, pediatric aphakic glaucoma, amblyopia and amblyopia treatment, neurologic implications of acquired esotropia, and the genetic basis of strabismus. In his 22 years while a faculty member at Iowa, he received federal and National Institutes of Health College of Medicine Grants, presented 127 invited lectures, conference presentations, and visiting professorships, and published 20 book chapters and 55 peer-reviewed papers.

Current Ronald V. Keech, MD. Professor in Ophthalmic Genetics

The first Ronald V. Keech, M.D. Professor in Ophthalmic Genetics is Arlene V. Drack, M.D. (March 6, 2009)

This professorship, established through the generosity of Martin and Ruth Carver, is named in honor of Professor Hansjoerg E.J.W. Kolder, beloved teacher, role model, and outstanding clinician and surgeon in the University of Iowa Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences.

Dr. Kolder was born on November 29, 1926, in Vienna, Austria and received a doctorate in medicine and philosophy from the University of Vienna. In February of 1959, Dr. Kolder joined Emory University as a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Physiology. He served as Associate Professor between 1963 and 1968. He was recruited to the University of Iowa by Dr. Frederick C. Blodi in 1968 where he simultaneously held a position as Associate Professor and completed a residency in clinical ophthalmology. In 1973, he was appointed Professor. Dr. Kolder retired from clinical practice in 1995 and was appointed Emeritus Professor.

Although a “generalist” Dr. Kolder excelled in all areas of ophthalmology and was comfortable performing many types of ophthalmic surgery. For more than 20 years, he was responsible for teaching residents the fundamentals of cataract surgery.

In 1998, the electrodiagnostic laboratory at the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences was named in his honor. He is known for his extensive study of the electro-oculogram (EOG) and other electrodiagnostic phenomena used in evaluating patients with abnormalities of the visual system.

Former and Current Hansjoerg E. J. W. Kolder, M.D., Ph.D., Professors in Best Disease Research

• Robert F. Mullins, PhD was the inaugural recipient of this Professorship (April 2010-September 2014) 
• Todd E. Scheetz, PhD (September 2014-October 2017)
• Terry A. Braun, BS, MS, PhD is the current recipient (October 2017 to present)

Rodolfo N. (Rudy) Perez Jr., M.D.,  and Margaret Perez live in Boulder, Colorado. After thirty-seven years in medicine, Rudy retired in 2010 from a group ophthalmology practice in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Rudy grew up in a small town along the Texas-Mexican border and is descended from a Spanish land grant family who came to the New World in 1515. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas. In St. Louis, he received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Following military service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Iowa under Dr. Frederick Blodi and a fellowship in retina under Dr. Robert Watzke.

Margaret was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia with a degree in philosophy. She did graduate studies in philosophy at Washington University St. Louis and received a Masters degree in counseling from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley . She taught Language Arts and English as a second language in middle school and later served as a counselor.

Rudy and Margaret settled in Weslaco, Texas close to where he grew up.  He joined two general ophthalmologists later to be joined by two other Iowa ophthalmology graduates, Dr. William Gillum in Plastics and Dr. Cristina Johnson in Pediatric Ophthalmology. The practice expanded to serve four communities with patients from Mexico as well as Texas.

Margaret and Rudy are the proud parents of four children: David, Ileana, Emily, and Edward, and grandparents of seven children. David and Edward are both Harvard graduates, and Ileana and Emily are Stanford graduates. They have all earned graduate degrees. David and Ileana are MBA graduates and Edward and Emily are MFA graduates.

Both Margaret and Rodolfo have been active in their communities in Texas and Colorado. Margaret was a member of Friends of the Library and assisted young children with reading. Rudy served on the school board and also the regional board for Teach for America. He has held offices in hospital medical boards and the Texas Ophthalmology Association. Rudy is a founding member of the Valley Symphony Association and Margaret a founding member of the Valley Youth Orchestra.

Currently, Rudy is Vice President of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra Board, studies classical piano, and is learning guitar and mandolin. He attends lectures in physics and astronomy. Both he and Margaret enjoy chamber and symphonic music, opera, jazz and drama. They continue to explore and learn about the natural beauty of Colorado.

Current and Former Rodolfo Perez Jr., M.D., and Margaret Perez Professors in Ophthalmology Education

• Thomas A. Oetting, MD was named as the inaugural recipient of the Rodolfo (Rudy) and Margaret Perez Professorship in Ophthalmology in September of 2016.
• Pavlina S. Kemp, MD, July 2022

Ms. Dina Schrage of Merrillville, Indiana, suffered from macular degeneration, a medical condition that results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field. It is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in people aged 60 and over.

Prior to her death in 2007, Ms. Schrage asked her family attorney for assistance in determining which institutions and organizations were conducting the most promising research in eye diseases and macular degeneration. Based on the breadth and reputation of research in this area, the University of Iowa's Carver Family Center for Macular Degeneration was selected as the beneficiary of her estate gift.

Ms. Schrage's gift creates a permanent endowment to support macular degeneration research and will further efforts to treat, cure and prevent the disease.

Current Dina J. Schrage Professor in Macular Degeneration Research

The first recipient of this Professorship is Stephen R. Russell, M.D. on November 29, 2010

Dr. Watzke was one of the first subspecialists trained in Boston by Dr. Charles Schepens who popularized the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope and scleral buckling procedures for retinal reattachment. He joined the faculty in 1958. He was regarded as a leading retina specialist, a talented and innovative surgeon as well as a proponent and organizer of national randomized clinical trials including the Diabetic Retinopathy Study and the Macular Photocoagulation Study which demonstrated the efficacy of laser surgery in proliferative diabetic retinopathy and in age-related macular degeneration.

The Robert C. Watzke Endowment was created to honor Dr. Watzke for his outstanding contributions, his humanitarianism and effectiveness as a mentor. It is intended to be used to support research of the retina and vitreous.

Current Robert C. Watzke, MD, Professor in Retina Research

The inaugural appointee to this Professorship is Michael D. Abramoff, MD, PhD (June 2016)

Watch the investiture ceremony by clicking here.