Robert Ritch, MD

Dr. Robert Ritch holds the Shelley and Steven Einhorn Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology and is Surgeon Director and Chief of Glaucoma Services at the New York Eye & Ear Infirmary, New York City and Professor of Ophthalmology at The New York Medical College, Valhalla, New York. He has devoted his career to broadening our understanding of the nature of glaucoma and innovation in the medical, laser, and surgical treatment of glaucoma.

          Dr. Ritch received his B.A. cum laude from Harvard College and an M.A. in cell biology from Harvard University. He received his M.D. from Albert Einstein School of Medicine and, after an internship at St. Vincent’s Medical Center and a residency in Ophthalmology at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, he received fellowships in glaucoma from the Heed Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. A Diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology, he is a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Surgeons, the International College of Surgeons, the Royal College of Ophthalmology, the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, and the New York Academy of Medicine, and is a member of more than 35 scientific and medical societies.

          Dr. Ritch has been President of the Ophthalmic Laser Surgical Society, the New York Glaucoma Society, the Section on Ophthalmology of the New York Academy of Medicine, and the New York Society for Clinical Ophthalmology. He serves on numerous medical and scientific advisory and editorial boards and is a member of the Glaucoma Research Society, the Steering Committee of the World Glaucoma Association, the Advisory Board of Helen Keller International, and the Board of Governors of the International Society for Imaging in the Eye.

          In 1996, Dr. Ritch received the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Ophthalmologist of the Year award and in 1998, the Gold Medal of Merit and Honor from the Greek Glaucoma Society and the Ophthalmology Times Achievement in Ophthalmology Award. In 1999, he was one of the winners of the Louis Rudin Award for research in ophthalmology. In 2000, he received the Jesse H. Neal Award for Editorial Achievement. In 2002, Dr. Ritch was appointed to the Advisory Committee to the Board of Directors of the International Council of Ophthalmology and was elected Chairman of the Committee in 2009 and appointed to the Board of Directors of the International Council. He was elected to the Board of Trustees of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and in 2006 was elected Vice-President. In 2006 he was also recipient of the Albion O. Bernstein, MD Award of the Medical Society of the State of New York for outstanding contributions to medicine. In 2007, he received the Lifetime Achievement Honor Award and the Leadership in Educuation in Ophthalmology (LEO) Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Dean’s Distinguished Research Award from the New York Medical College. In 2008, he is the first recipient of The Glaucoma Foundation Award for Innovation and Excellence in Glaucoma, and also the TKC Liu Memorial Award for Leadership in Ophthalmology. He received the Dominick Purpura Distinguished Alumnus Annual Award from Albert Einstein College of Medicine for 2009, the ARVO Distinguished Service Award, and ARVO Gold Fellowship.

          Dr. Ritch has co-authored or edited seven textbooks and over 1400 medical and scientific papers, book chapters, articles and abstracts. He has given over 600 lectures, including 30 named lectures. In 1985, he founded the Glaucoma Foundation and has served as Secretary, Medical Director, and Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Board. In 1994, he initiated the annual Optic Nerve Rescue and Regeneration Think Tank, which has attracted numerous successful researchers from other fields into glaucoma research. He also co-founded the New York Glaucoma Research Institute, a not-for-profit foundation to sponsor clinical research in glaucoma, the alt.support.glaucoma Internet newsgroup, the New York Glaucoma Support and Education Group, and the Association of International Glaucoma Patient Organizations. He was one of the three organizers of the first annual World Glaucoma Day in 2008. He was co-founder of the Ophthalmic Laser Surgical Society, the New York Glaucoma Society, and the Lindberg Society, an international organization dedicated to the eradication of exfoliation syndrome; the ARVO Host-a-Research Program, the ARVO U.S.-Russia Ophthalmology Task Force, the Von Graefe Society, an international organization dedicated to the study of risk factors for glaucoma other than intraocular pressure.

Dr. Ritch has trained over 130 clinical and research fellows, many of whom occupy academic positions worldwide. The international training program that he established at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary has hosted 17 ICO fellows and over 80 obervers from nearly 40 countries. He has worked and lectured extensively at the international level and has organized many symposia and conferences both in the United States and abroad. He has organized meetings, established teaching programs and helped to modernize ophthalmology in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Laos, Myanmar and other countries in Asia.