Awards, People

Prestigious honor for John Flanagan, optometry dean

By Public Affairs

John Flanagan
The College of Optometrists, the preeminent optometric organization in the United Kingdom, has conferred its prestigious life fellowship on John Flanagan, dean of UC Berkeley’s School of Optometry.

Flanagan was invited to become a Life Fellow of the College in recognition of his contributions the profession, specifically his research into glaucoma and diabetic eye disease, and his efforts toward the development of optometric education in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Before coming to UC Berkeley in 2014, Flanagan held faculty positions at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo, and the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto. He was director of the Glaucoma Research Unit at Toronto Western Research Institute, and a senior scientist at the Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network.

A clinician with over 30 years of experience and a special interest in glaucoma management, Flanagan earned his degrees from Aston University, Birmingham, UK.

He has held continuous federal research funding for over 25 years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, with additional research funding from the American Health Assistance Foundation and the Glaucoma Research Society of Canada. He has supervised 42 graduate students and has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed publications. In addition, he has published 10 book chapters and three books.

The College of Optometrists is the professional, scientific and examining body for optometry in the UK. The fellowship will be formally conferred in a ceremony at Westminster’s Central Hall in London, on Tuesday, Nov. 10.