Symposium celebrating the 90th birthday of Professor Robert Fletcher

Monday 22th June 2015
Rooms DLG
Rhind Building
St John Street
London
EC1R 0JD

If you wish to attend this event please email alumnievents@city.ac.uk

 Description

The Division of Optometry and Visual Science at City University London will be holding a one-day symposium to mark the outstanding career of Emeritus Professor Robert J Fletcher on the occasion of his 90th birthday.

Professor Fletcher taught in the Department of Optometry & Visual Science from 1950 until his retirement, leading it from 1966 to 1980.  He was appointed the first Professor of Optometry outside the USA and has trained over 10,000 students. He also established courses in Norway, Italy, Malaysia, Iceland, Israel, Nigeria, Portugal and Ethiopia, and assisted course development in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. During his career he formed close links with the optical industry and professional associations and has made a major contribution to optics in the UK. 

We look forward to welcoming you to this event, which will be a great opportunity to network with former City students and professionals from the field. You will also be able to find out more about latest developments at the University.

Agenda:

Download Programme for the Symposium here.

Emeritus Professor Robert Fletcher's Career

Professor Fletcher has made an outstanding and unique contribution to optometric education in the UK and over twenty other countries throughout a career lasting seven decades. He has been associated with City University London since his student days in 1941, which was followed by an academic career there for over 30 years. Robert Fletcher was appointed the first professor of optometry outside the USA in 1966 and led the Department of Optometry and Visual Science for two decades. During this period he developed a new three year BSc (Hons) degree in optometry followed by MSc and PhD programmes as well as contact lens courses. Over 10,000 students have benefited from his teaching in over 20 countries and many more from other disciplines through his 150 publications and 16 textbooks. His research interests have been diverse and he is the designer of several optometric instruments. No other person in Europe has had such influence.

Qualifications

MSc (Tech), FSMC (Hons), FBOA (Higher Diploma), D.Orth, DCLP, FCOptom, FAAO, AMCT Awards: British Optical Association Research Medal (1963), Gold Award of the Norwegian Optometric Association (1983), British College Optometrists/ AOP Winner of Colour Vision Lantern Design (2000)

Achievements

Establishment of courses in Norway, Italy, Malaysia, Iceland, Israel, Nigeria, Portugal and Ethiopia. Assistance to course development in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand. Invited lecture courses in over twenty countries on contact lenses, ocular prosthetics, low vision aids and defective colour vision, industrial vision, clinical optometry. Consulting Editor to Blackwell Scientific Publishers for many years as General Editor of the series Modern Optometry. Translation of two optometry textbooks into English. Design/ patent of four Ophthalmic Instruments commercially manufactured. Design of many laboratory instruments, and apparatus for teaching and research. Expert Witness for High and Crown Court cases and optometric tribunals. Supervision of seventeen research students, mostly for PhD.

Past Positions

President of British Optical Association. President of Contact Lens Association of UK. Member of Editorial Board of Contact Lens Journals in UK and Italy. Chairman of the Colour Group (GB). Research Associate, Indiana University USA. Industrial Consultant to over twenty organisations. Chairman of the Optometry Joint Advisory Board. External Examiner to UK Universities, University of Kebangasaan, Malaysia, University of Benin Nigeria, College of Optometrists (as former British Optical Association), Alexander Fleming Institute Rome, University College Kongsberg Norway, CNNA, CIBA labs Germany. Adviser to many international Optometric Associations.

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