After earning his medical degree from University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College in New York in 1901, Dr. Edward Cary returned to Dallas to practice ophthalmology. Shortly after arriving, Dr. Cary discovered that the University of Dallas Medical Department operated in an abandoned synagogue and was staffed by local physicians who lectured between calls on private patients. Cary joined the faculty as professor of ophthalmology in 1902, and three months later was elected dean. He helped establish a formal affiliation with Baylor University in Waco, and in 1903 the organization became Baylor University School of Medicine. Dr. Cary remained as professor of ophthalmology and otolaryngology at Baylor, stepping down as dean in 1920.

Under Dr. Cary’s leadership, a group of prominent citizens organized the Southwestern Medical Foundation in 1939 and aligned with Baylor College of Medicine. In 1943 this association ended when Baylor College of Medicine moved to Houston. Dr. Cary remained in Dallas and served as the president of Southwestern Medical Foundation, which formally established Southwestern Medical College as the sixty-eighth medical school in the U.S. Dr. Cary served as president of Southwestern Medical College until it became part of the University of Texas in 1949.

Dr. Cary practiced ophthalmology for more than 50 years and published more than 60 scientific papers. Dr. Cary died in 1953 and did not see Southwestern Medical School move to its current location in 1955. Today, the Cary Basic Science Building serves as a permanent reminder of his many contributions to academic ophthalmology in the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Carrol Browning, M.D. came to Dallas from Springfield, Illinois. Dr. Browning accepted a part-time appointment in the division of ophthalmology while maintaining a private practice, but his involvement in academic ophthalmology grew during his tenure. He helped organize the first basic training course for ophthalmology and with the assistance of the Lion’s Club, established the first eye bank in Dallas. Dr. Browning was chairman of ophthalmology from 1953 to 1963.

During his tenure the eye residency training program ,grew from one resident to eight. An ophthalmic pathology laboratory was established under Dr. Jerome Byers. In 1956 the Dallas Eye Bank was established as an affiliate of the University Eye Department with a grant from the Lion’s Club. Corneal transplantation was performed in the Dallas area for the first time, making Dallas a regional center for this type of surgery. A glaucoma diagnostic and treatment clinic was completed under the direction of Dr. John Lippas, and an ocular motility clinic was also established.
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In 1963, John Lynn, M.D. was appointed chairman of ophthalmology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas, as it was called at that time. Dr. Lynn became the first full-time faculty member in the division of ophthalmology. Through Dr. Lynn’s efforts, the division of ophthalmology emerged as an freestanding academic department in 1969.

Dr. Lynn embarked on an ambitious campaign to expand the residency training program, improve patient care facilities at Parkland Hospital, recruit new faculty, create an active basic research program, obtain space for research laboratories, and establish independent facilities for private patient care.
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In 1981 James P. McCulley, M.D. was named chairman. The Department of Ophthalmology has grown significantly since then to include 14 full-time ophthalmologists, seven full-time Ph.D.’s, and more than 100 participating clinical faculty members.

In addition, the department initiated training programs for graduate students and post-doctoral fellows. 

Ophthalmology facilities grew with the addition of the James W. Aston Ambulatory Care Center with 31 exam rooms for private patients, a CLIA accredited microbiological laboratory, laser and photographic support facilities, and a laser keratorefractive facility.

Today the department is a major referral center offering consultative services in virtually every medical and surgical area of ophthalmic care. The major goals of the department are to deliver comprehensive eye care of the highest quality, to conduct research for the prevention of eye disease and blindness, and the training of eye care physicians.
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