Alice McPherson, MD

This month we celebrate Women’s History Month, and this week we feature Alice McPherson, MD, the first female ophthalmologist in the world and one of the world’s leading vitreoretinal specialists. Dr. McPherson helped lead the way for both the advancement of the retina field and women in ophthalmology. After earning her bachelors and medical degrees from the University of Wisconsin, where she also completed an ophthalmology residency, she was the first-ever female vitreoretinal fellow to complete a retina fellowship with Dr. Charles Schepens at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. In her career, she pioneered several procedures that are now accepted as basic elements in the treatment of retinal disease.

As a founder of two leading research institutions, the Retina Research Foundation (RRF) in Houston, and the McPherson Eye Research Institute at UW-Madison, she has had an enormous influence on vision research worldwide. The recipient of numerous honors, Dr. McPherson has applied her knowledge and leadership to many professional organizations, including as president of The Retina Society and second vice president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In the 1960s, she was the first American woman to be accepted into the prestigious European Club Jules Gonin. And in 2014, she reached another highpoint in her career, when she was selected to receive the Jules Gonin Medal— the oldest and most prestigious medal in ophthalmology, awarded by the University of Lausanne and the Societe Suisse d’Ophtalmologie. In 1988, here in Houston, the mayor declared March 12 as Alice McPherson Day.