Dr. John G. Flanagan
Thank you to Dompe for their generous support by sponsoring this award
Dr. John G. Flanagan is Professor and Dean Emeritus at the Herbert Wertheim School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of California, Berkeley. He graduated in Optometry and Vision Sciences from Aston University, Birmingham, UK in 1980, where he later earned his PhD in 1985. Until 2014 he was Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science, University of Waterloo and in the Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Sciences, University of Toronto, Canada, where he was Director of the Glaucoma Research Unit, Toronto Western Research Institute and a Senior Scientist at the Toronto Western Hospital, University Health Network. He was the eighth dean of Berkeley Optometry and Vision Science from 2014 to 2025.
He has held continuous federal research funding for over 35 years (MRC/CIHR/CHRP/NIH), with additional research funding from the BrightFocus Foundation, the Glaucoma Research Society of Canada and the Glaucoma Research Foundation. He has supervised 47 graduate students and has authored over 185 peerreviewed publications. In addition, he has 14 book chapters, 3 books and given numerous invited lectures to both professional and academic audiences around the world. His research interests include basic mechanisms of human glaucoma and neurodegeneration (glial cell function, lipid mediators, neuroprotection, neuroinflammation), ocular imaging, clinical psychophysics and vascular reactivity. Awards include Certificate of Merit for Research Excellence, Glaucoma Research Society of Canada; Claire Bobier Lecture, University of Waterloo; Springer Lecture, University of Alabama; the Glenn A Fry Award from the American Academy of Optometry; Outstanding Performance Award, University of Waterloo (2004 & 2013); Institute of Medical Science Mel Silverman Mentorship Award, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto; the Dario Lorenzetti Lecture, McGill Ophthalmology; and the Karen Walker-Brandreth Lecture, UC Berkeley. He was a plenary lecturer at the 2003 AAO meeting and was appointed as faculty for the inaugural World Glaucoma Congress in 2005 and subsequent WGC meetings. He was a founding member of the Optometric Glaucoma Society; Program Chair from 2002 to 2007, and President from 2007 to 2012. He is also a member of the American Glaucoma Society, and a Fellow of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology and the American Academy of Optometry. From 2008-2014 he was inaugural Chair of the Clinical Research Ethics Committee at the University of Waterloo. He has also served as a Governor and Senator at the University of Waterloo and was a member of the Senate Executive Committee. He served as President of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, in 2020/21.
He serves on the Boards of Optometry Giving Sight and the Glaucoma Research Foundation, where he is chair of the Research Committee. In 2015 he was awarded a life fellowship of the British College of Optometrists. In 2016 he received a DSc honoris causa from alma mater Aston University. In 2017 he was designated a Distinguished Professor Emeritus, University of Waterloo. In 2020, he received the President’s Award for services to the profession of optometry from the American Optometric Association, and in 2022 was included in the inaugural cohort of the American Academy of Optometry’s Hall of Fame. In 2023, he was named the Borish Scholar by the School of Optometry at the University of Indiana, and in 2024 received a Certificate of Honor from the City of San Francisco, the Paul Yarwood Award from the California Optometric Association, and a Certificate of Recognition from the California Attorney General. In 2025 he was honoured with a Berkeley Citation.
