He is best known for founding Project Orbis (now called Orbis International, Inc.) in 1970.
EAST HAMPTON, NY, March 06, 2018 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Marquis Who's Who, the world's premier publisher of biographical profiles, is proud to present David Paton, MD, with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award. An accomplished listee, Dr. Paton celebrates many years' experience in his professional network, and has been noted for achievements, leadership qualities, and the credentials and successes he has accrued in his field. As in all Marquis Who's Who biographical volumes, individuals profiled are selected on the basis of current reference value. Factors such as position, noteworthy accomplishments, visibility, and prominence in a field are all taken into account during the selection process.
Dr. Paton is a board-certified ophthalmologist and professor emeritus of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX, since 1998. He is best known for founding Project Orbis (now called Orbis International, Inc.) in 1970. The non-profit organization's concept began to take shape when Dr. Paton was a faculty member of The Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine during the late 1960s. After extended experiences abroad and recognizing the lack of eye care and ophthalmic teachings in developing nations where blindness was widespread, he wished to close this gap despite the high costs of tuition, international travel and accommodations that prevent most doctors and nurses in low-income countries from coming to the United States for training. Forming Orbis shortly thereafter, it became a mobile teaching hospital unit, the world's only Flying Eye Hospital, which now serves as a unique and lasting alliance between aviation and medicine. Over the years, Orbis has provided hands-on teaching skills in almost 100 countries and has an annual budget n excess of $200,000,000.
Receiving an MD at Johns Hopkins University in 1956 after first earning an undergraduate degree at Princeton University, Dr. Paton has since been the recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees, one from Bridgeport University in 1984, and one from Princeton University in 1985. Completing his residency at The Wilmer Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, MD, between 1959 and 1964, he began teaching ophthalmology at Wilmer Institute, and subsequently as chair of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine from 1971 to 1982. Dr. Paton then spent two years abroad as the first medical director for the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, followed by another two years as chairman and chief medical officer of another of his interests to help improve eye care in developing nations, OcuSystems, Inc., in Greenwich, CT. Accepting an appointment at the College of Medicine of Cornell University from 1986 to 1992, he primarily served as program director for the department of ophthalmology at the Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens. Almost none of the early experiences and developments would have been possible, he states, had he not won a 5-year Markel Scholarship while still at Wilmer and continued at Baylor.
A former chairman of The American Board of Ophthalmology and past first vice-president of The American Academy of Ophthalmology, Dr. Paton is a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the American College of Surgeons, the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, the Pan American Association of Ophthalmology, and former president of the Maryland Ophthalmological Society. He has been active in the past on the board of directors of the Eye-Bank for Sight Restoration, One World Sight Project and the East Hampton Healthcare Foundation, has been a board president of the World Eye Organization in Hong Kong, and past member of the medical advisory board of Johns Hopkins School of Public Health.
Dr. Paton's bountiful career has been recognized with a Distinguished Alumnus Award from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2005, was a Manhattan League of Helen Keller Services for the Blind honoree in 2002, received the French Legion of Honor in 1987, and the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan in 1987. He is the author and/or editor of a number of textbooks and the first author of 160 published original medical papers. Furthermore, in 2011, Dr. Paton self-published a memoir called "Second Sight: Views from An Eye Doctor's Odyssey." The book chronicles his unique career in eye care, from his first struggles with dyslexia at boarding school and Princeton University to performing eye surgery as one of the most recognized ophthalmologists of his time.
Currently, Dr. Paton is focused on what he hopes can be established as an official sub-specialty of American ophthalmology: Academic Global Ophthalmology (AGO). AGO would incorporate public health within the specialty; increasing academic expertise for the fight against world blindness; assisting the collaboration and recognition of the numerous international eye-NGOs that serve as intermediaries between academia and delivery of care; while promoting appropriate volunteerism for increasing effectiveness of services in the developing nations.
Married to Diane Johnston Brokaw, formerly the Executive Director of The President's Committee for the Arts and Humanities, since 1985, Dr. Paton is the son of a prominent ophthalmologist, Richard Townley Paton, MD, who founded the world's first eye bank in 1944, necessary to permit the growth of corneal transplant surgery in the United States and in most countries abroad. He is also the grandson of Stewart Paton, MD, who was a neurologist, psychiatrist and author of six books and many medical and zoological research papers that were published in the United States and Europe. He has one fine son, David Townley Paton, who elected to be in business instead of medicine. "He is much smarter than I but has the familial dyslexia." Dr. Paton has been highlighted in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Education and Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare. For more information, please visit www.orbis.org.
In recognition of outstanding contributions to his profession and the Marquis Who's Who community, David Paton, MD, has been featured on the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement website. Please visit www.ltachievers.com for more information about this honor.
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