Meredith W. Morgan, OD, PhD, FAAO (1912–1999)

I would like to join with friends and colleagues in remembering Meredith Morgan. I will try to express some of theshared thoughts of the many thousands of colleagues in the optometry profession and the Academy. Meredith W. Morgan, professor and dean emeritus, helped guide the School of Optometry at the University of California, Berkeley, through 67 of its 75 years. Just before his death, he celebrated his 87th birthday in March 1999, forgoing cake and tea for the more celebratory wine and cheese with flowers as gifts for his friends. Meredith, a beloved professor for 33 years and dean of the School of Optometry for 13 years, led the school to international prominence. Meredith was quite remarkable. Almost everyone in the School's history had some kind of contact with him. Hundreds of optometrists view him as a mentor, a colleague, a role model, a good personal friend, even a father or grandfather figure. It is even more remarkable that he was all those things for many of us—a very direct, very genuine man. His integrity was obvious to all and we all know of his booming, contagious laugh. The laugh is so famous that we played a tape recording of it at his clinic-naming ceremonies in 1998. Graduating with honors from the University of California at Berkeley in physics/optometry in 1934, he went on to earn a Ph.D. in physiology at Berkeley in 1942. Meredith literally spent his entire professional life with the School of Optometry at Berkeley, entering the School just 8 short years after optometry began on the campus. His research resulted in dozens of papers laying out a basic understanding of how the eyes work in beautiful synchrony to focus and converge on objects at close range. He helped us understand how this synchrony is not always perfect and can be treated for people with vision disorders. He also contributed to textbooks on the vision of children and of aging patients. During his 13 years as Dean of the School of Optometry, Meredith expanded the curriculum to create a doctor of optometry program and recruited world-renowned vision scientists to the campus. He was active in the establishment of a Ph.D. graduate program in physiological optics in 1946, one of the first such Ph.D. programs in the country and the training ground for many established researchers, optometry leaders, and deans of schools and colleges of optometry. In 1967, he received the prestigious Charles F. Prentice award, the Academy's highest award. In 1975, he was awarded a Berkeley Citation for exceptional service to the University. He loved his profession and his university and showed tremendous compassion for his friends and professional colleagues. Meredith's curriculum vitae, a most impressive documentation of teaching, research, and clinical achievement, is full of national awards, honorary doctoral degrees, and a stream of publications that changed the ways we care for patients and understand the fundamentals of eyes and vision, but it fails to disclose the most precious side of this gentle giant in optometry. Over and over again, colleagues remark on their special relationship with Meredith and point to his friendship, his integrity, his strong sense of fairness and ethical behavior, his tolerance, his ability to mentor and provide sage advice, and his ability to recognize excellence in a wide range of interests outside of his own. He valued the simple, the honest, the humorous, and the unadorned version of things. He was suspicious of excessive pomp and fanfare. He was forever inquisitive, expecting not only the facts to be revealed but also the logic for those facts. This trait gave a wonderful childlike quality to his personality. He knew one secret for life—lifelong learning—and he derived a special energy and vigor from it. He retained this characteristic thankfully, until his very last breath. Over the last 5 to 6 years, he traveled extensively with his wife Janet at his side. I am convinced that Janet not only brought extra years of life to Meredith but also enormously enhanced the quality of his life. Janet and Meredith's travels photo album was always out for visitors. Meredith had a most happy and productive time with his School in his final 2 years. In December 1997, he attended the Annual Meeting of the Academy in San Antonio to celebrate its 75th anniversary. There he was honored as past President. At Berkeley, he wrote a lead chapter on the first 50 years of the School of Optometry's history in a book recently published by the University of California. In 1998, he acted as the honorary chair, overseeing all of the School's 75th anniversary celebrations, and he participated in the dedication ceremonies led by our Chancellor in the renaming of our clinic, the Meredith W. Morgan University Eye Center. At that time, many joined him as he posed for photographs with alumni, faculty, and students next to the bronze bust in his likeness that is proudly displayed in our clinic. It was a time for Meredith's daughter Linda and family, including granddaughter Lauren and grandson Colin, to see just how much affection Meredith enjoyed from his many professional friends. The family was proud of Meredith as Ida, his late wife, would have been also. Only weeks before Meredith died, he received the Optometrist of the Year award from the Alameda and Contra Costa Counties Optometric Society for a record third time. In October, he was inducted into the Optometry Hall of Fame, joining a very small handful of “giants” of our profession who have been honored in this way. On May 6, 1999, at the Chancellor's instruction, the flag flew at half-mast on the Berkeley campus. It acknowledged Meredith's passing, honoring his life, and paying special tribute to him. We will miss him sorely, but we will never forget him; nor will the profession he helped create.