FRANK B. WALSH has been called one of the most distinguished ophthalmologists of the 20th century. With the publication of a landmark text in 1947, Dr. Walsh created the specialty of clinical neuro-ophthalmology, which concentrates on the diagnosis and care of patients with nervous system disorders that affect the eye or interfere with vision. Neuro-ophthalmologists can detect the presence of a brain tumor through changes in the optic nerve or diagnose the onset of multiple sclerosis through changes in the patient’s visual fields. By the 1960s, 20 years into Dr. Walsh’s tenure at Hopkins, there were still only four neuro-ophthalmologists in the United States. Today, that number has multiplied dramatically, and many specialists in the field owe their education and training to the late Dr. Walsh.
JAMES P. GILLS, who trained at Hopkins as a resident in the 1960s, is the founder and director of St. Luke’s Cataract and Laser Institute in Tarpon Springs, Florida. He was the first ophthalmologist in the United States to dedicate his practice to the treatment of cataracts via the use of intraocular lens implants and has since performed more cataract and lens implant surgeries than anyone else in the world. St. Luke’s Cataract and Laser Institute is known for providing an exceptional amount of charitable care to patients.
In addition to his medical pursuits, Dr. Gills has been successful in real estate. Before establishing the James P. Gills Professorship in Ophthalmology, he made the lead commitment, with a gift of land, for the endowment of the Frank B. Walsh Professorship in Neuro-ophthalmology. Dr. Gills serves on the Wilmer Advisory Council.
