The Waring Memorial Award for a Young Ophthalmologist is named in honor of George O. Waring III, MD, who passed away on January 27, 2015 at the age of 73. His commitment and dedication to ophthalmology and refractive surgery made a significant impact worldwide.
Dr. Waring received his medical degree from Baylor Medical College, Houston, Texas. His ophthalmology training included a residency followed by a Heed Fellowship in corneal disease and surgery at the Wills Eye Hospital in Philadelphia. He was board certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and was a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS), of the Royal College of Ophthalmology (FRCOphth, Britain), and of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.
Dr. Waring began his academic career in 1974 as Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, Davis, where he established the first eye bank in northern California. In 1979 he joined the faculty at Emory University, where he was a tenured Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of Refractive Surgery, until 2004. He was a Founder and Managing Director of the privately owned Vision Correction Group (Emory Vision/InView Vision Center) from 1994 to 2004, where he performed more than 10,000 LASIK and other refractive procedures. From 2003 until his death, Dr. Waring practiced privately in Atlanta at the InView Center.
Dr. Waring published over 250 peer reviewed original articles, 60 book chapters, and 250 brief communications. He received three American Academy of Ophthalmology Honor Awards (including the Life Achievement Honor Award in 2004), the Society of Heed Fellows Outstanding Ophthalmologist Award, an Honorary Medal from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, a Gold Medal from the 5th International Congress on Cataract and Refractive Surgery in Florence, Italy, two gold medals for contributions in international ophthalmology from the Pan Arab Council of Ophthalmology, the Castroviejo Medal from the Corneal Society, and the Lans, Barraquer, Kritzinger and Lifetime Achievement Awards from the International Society of Refractive Surgery.