Dear friends and colleagues:

It is time to move on.

Without the invitation of Bruce Spivey and Fred Blodi I would never have moved from NYC to Iowa City in 1969. At that time I certainly never dreamed of being on the faculty of this great institution. I had mixed emotions becoming chair in September 1986. None of us had recovered from the shock of losing our friend Chuck Phelps. His tragic death has remained with me ever since. I vividly remember my last visit with him on 2-Tower. He was frail, but strong willed. He was a great man. He would have been so proud of this Department and his wonderful family.

Becoming Professor and Department Head was the most wonderful professional opportunity I could have ever dreamed to have. Hardly a day has passed over the past 18 years that I have not learned something. No one is fully prepared to take a leadership role of this magnitude. It has been a privilege to work with one of the world's best ophthalmology faculties. No one could ask for more dedicated staff or more conscientious and talented residents and fellows. It has been a learning experience that I would not have traded for anything.

If you have one or two mentors and a close friend consider yourself very fortunate. In addition to my parents and family I have been exceedingly fortunate to have a number of outstanding teachers and mentors. Their unwavering support and trust in me is still inexplicable. Without their help I may never have even completed college. I certainly would not have been looking back on the kind of career I have had. Many of their names will be unfamiliar to you. Those of you who do recognize names will know why they have been so important to me. They unselfishly and without ulterior motives provided guidance, sensitive criticism, and trusting support as friends and mentors. They told me when they disagreed and when I had made mistakes. One of the small ways I have tried to give back is to make myself available to students and to serve in the best way I can as a mentor. It has been personally very gratifying to see some of those students as they met difficult challenges and move ahead with their lives and careers.

There was Lou Sarlin, a 6th grade teacher, Bob Leicester, Milt Unterman, and Karl Uretsky, high school teachers and friends, Clifford Crump a retired astronomer and mathematician at Earlham College, George Smelser my PhD advisor, David Kozart a pre-resident postdoctoral fellow who shared a lab with me at Columbia University and of course Bob Watzke, Fred and Otty Blodi, Bruce Spivey, Dick Caplan, John Colloton, Sandy Boyd, Sam Levey, Marvin Pomerantz, my close friend Hank Kaplan, and others in recent years including Mary Hendrix and Gary Seamans. There are many other professional colleagues and close friends and not enough room to thank them individually. What a fortunate person I am.

It is time now to move on. The experience of being Department Head has been one of the greatest opportunities anyone could have. No one could ask for a more supportive faculty... feisty, outspoken, critical, sharp, but focused like ophthalmologists and vision scientists should be on providing the best patient care, teaching, and outstanding research. I am very proud of you all. Together we have an impressive record of accomplishments.

Thank you all. I am excited about the challenges and opportunities that still lie before us. You can trust that I will continue to do everything in my power to support the Department and the University as I move on in a different direction.

I apologize for the formality of this note, but I wanted everyone to know how much I appreciate their friendship and support and I want you to know how important you have been to me.

You can read more about my plans on our website and the formal news release attached.

press release: http://webeye.ophth.uiowa.edu/dept/news/TAW/stepping-down.htm

Tom