FAAO celebrates 25th anniversary

Chicago-

The Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (FAAO) commemorates its silver anniversary in 2005, marking 25 years of education and public service.

Since its founding in 1980, the foundation has been the recipient of gifts and sponsorships from thousands of members, individuals, corporations, and foundations. Record contributions of $3.9 million in 2004 to 2005 helped more than 7,500 volunteer ophthalmologists carry out the organization’s mission of preventing avoidable blindness and severe visual impairment.

During the past year, the FAAO successfully impacted the public in many ways, such as:

• Serving more than 48,000 medically underserved people through its public service program, EyeCare America.

• Educating 595,000 children and their families about the eye and vision through Museum of Vision activities.

• Providing 246 training programs in developing countries with free ophthalmic education materials.

• Funding the academy’s efforts to develop 10 Education Resource Center Practice Emphasis Areas online; publish a new refractive surgery Basic Clinical Science Course (BCSC) section; and publish a new BCSC CD-ROM version.