10/22/2025
While neuro-ophthalmology became an official field in 1947 when Frank B. Walsh, an ophthalmologist at the Wilmer Eye Institute, published the textbook “Clinical Neuro-Ophthalmology”, it is thought to be much older.
Socrates discussed visual perception and the relativity of our senses in The Republic. Plato later proposed the eye emitted rays that would reach out and touch the environment. Later thinkers, such as Galen of Pergamon and Leonardo da Vinci, would expound upon this theory through dissection of the cranial nerves, neuroanatomy, and the eye, helping shape the field we know today.
Sources:
Dr. Frank B. “Pappy” Walsh, MD. (2018, October 19). American Academy of Ophthalmology. https://www.aao.org/lifetime-engaged-ophthalmologist/perspective/article/frank-pappy-walsh
Karanjia, R., & Sadun, A. A. (2016). The Foundation of Neuro-Ophthalmology in the United States of America. Ophthalmology, 123(3), 447–450. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2015.12.007
Named Deanships, Directorships, and Professorships. (2016, October 17). Frank B. Walsh Professorship in Neuro-Ophthalmology - Named deanships, directorships, and professorships. Named Deanships, Directorships, and Professorships - Endowed Positions Have a Personal and Lasting Impact. https://professorships.jhu.edu/professorship/frank-b-walsh-professorship-neuro-ophthalmology/
