A Brief History

Alson E. Braley, MD (1973)

Dr. Braley was the eye bank's medical director until his retirement in 1975. Under his successor, Dr. Jay Krachmer, the program was expanded and the Iowa Lions Cornea Center, which includes the Iowa Lions Eye Bank, was built in 1977.

Jay H. Krachmer, MD (1992)	William D. Mathers, MD (1995)

In July of 1992, Dr. Krachmer left the University of Iowa to become the Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. William D Mathers became the eye bank's third medical director. In July of 1995, Dr. John E Sutphin was named co-medical director.

In February of 1996, the eye bank moved with the Department of Ophthalmology to new facilities in the Pomerantz Family Pavilion.

Dr. Mathers left the department in October of 1998 to go to Casey Eye Institute in Portland, Oregon. Dr. Michael D. Wagoner joined the Eye Bank Team in July of 1999 and was named co-medical director with Dr. Sutphin in August of 1999. Dr. Wagoner left the University of Iowa in the Summer of 2002 to become Medical Director of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital (KKESH) in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and returned as the Associate Medical Director in 2007. In 2002, Dr. Sutphin became the Medical Director. Dr. Ayad Farjo was the Associate Medical Director from the summer of 2002 until his departure for Madison, Wisconsin in June of 2003. Dr. Kenneth Goins became the Associate Medical Director in August 2003.

John E. Sutphin, MD	Michael D. Wagoner, M.D.	Ayad Farjo, MD	Kenneth M. Goins, MD

Growth and Expansion of the eye bank necessitated its move in December, 2001, to 2346 Mormon Trek Blvd, Suite 1500 in Iowa City. Further expansion saw the opening of the first satellite office in Ames, Iowa in May of 2003.

In December of 2006 Dr. Kenneth Goins became Medical Director when Dr. Sutphin left to become the head of Ophthalmology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kansas. Dr. Sutphin remains an emeritus professor of ophthalmology at the University of Iowa.

Our Open House

Celebrating 50 Years of Eye Banking