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, and the New York Academy of Medicine, and is a member of more than 30 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 Committee of the International Congress of Ophthalmology, the Steering Committee of the Association of International Glaucoma Societies, the Board of Directors 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 of the International Council of Ophthalmology and in 2003, 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 Education in Ophthalmology (LEO) Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the Dean’s Distinguished Research Award from the New York Medical College.

Dr. Ritch has co-authored five textbooks and over 1200 medical and scientific papers, book chapters, articles and abstracts. 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 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.

Dr. Ritch has trained over 120 clinical and research fellows, many of whom occupy academic positions worldwide. 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.

Robert Ritch, MD
Shelley and Steven Einhorn Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology
Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology
Chief, Glaucoma Service
Surgeon Director
The New York Eye and Ear Infirmary
310 East 14th Street
New York, NY 10003
Medical Director and
Chairman, Scientific Advisory Board
The Glaucoma Foundation
http://www.nyee.edu