ASCRS News: ASCRS Annual Meeting preview
Spring 2025
by Ellen Stodola
Editorial Co-Director
The ASCRS Foundation is honoring former board member Michael Colvard, MD, by posthumously naming him co-recipient of the 2023 Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award, along with Helena Ndume, MD, his long-time partner with SEE International in Namibia. Dr. Colvard, a beloved ophthalmologist, humanitarian, and educator, passed away in September 2024.
Dr. Colvard trained under Richard Kratz, MD, and became one of the first phaco surgeons in Southern California. He practiced at Colvard Eye Center (now Colvard-Kandavel Eye Center) in Encino, California from 1983 until his death. Dr. Colvard was known for developing cataract surgical techniques and instruments, such as the Colvard Pupillometer to evaluate mesopic pupil size prior to refractive surgery.
Dr. Colvard also had a deep commitment to humanitarian work and made numerous trips abroad. His first trip to Africa was in 1986 when he joined Stephen Johnson, MD, to perform cataract surgery in Kenya. Through SEE International, Dr. Colvard met Dr. Ndume in Namibia, with whom he closely partnered for the next 36 years to advance eyecare in that country.
He founded the Friends of Vision Foundation, with the mission of helping to eliminate reversible blindness both locally and in underdeveloped countries, as well as to provide food, clothing, and educational supplies to orphaned, disabled, and underprivileged children around the globe. For more than 30 years, Dr. Colvard worked with the foundation, as well as SEE International, to help restore vision to more than 10,000 patients in Africa.
Dr. Colvard’s work also had a profound impact on his family. His daughters, Caitlin and Megan, made separate trips with him to Namibia. They both returned with a new appreciation for the plight of people all over the world. Caitlin founded the World Family Foundation and is now a practicing pediatrician in Southern California. Megan saw the plight of the AIDS orphans and returned to institute a fundraiser at her high school to raise funds for an AIDS orphanage in Namibia; she also founded the Children’s Educational Foundation.
According to his wife, Sue, “Mike was raised to always be the best person he could be, to work hard, to persevere, and to always show respect for others. … He was an amazing human being, and few of us will ever be able to impact mankind as he did.”
Donald Bell, Chief Executive Officer of SEE International, remembered the commitment of Dr. Colvard as a global ophthalmologist. “He spent 35 years working with SEE International and Dr. Ndume to bring charitable cataract surgery to Namibia. Together they planned, organized, taught, and operated side by side in remote camps and villages through the country,” he said. “His influence can be felt today in the more than 45,000 Namibian citizens who’ve had their vision restored through Michael and Helena’s efforts to create a better future for the country and people that he loved.”
Dr. Colvard was much more than just a volunteer surgeon and mentor, Mr. Bell said. “When he saw the number of Namibian children who’d lost parents during the AIDS epidemic in Africa, the Friends of Vision organization built a school to educate and care for the area children. When he saw that the same children lacked the basic nutrition needed to grow and thrive, he started a farm to grow the food needed to feed both the school and the surrounding village.”
Mr. Bell also remembered Dr. Colvard’s kindness and generosity. “His humble nature masked a life of achievement, purpose, and focus. He was always eager to lend his advice and guidance in a quiet and unassuming way. He served on foundation boards and contributed regularly to organizations that shared his goal of improving vision throughout the world,” he said.
Dr. Ndume, who received the Chang-Crandall Humanitarian Award at the 2023 ASCRS Annual Meeting, was honored to share the award posthumously with her mentor and friend. Working in the eye camps with him, she said that Dr. Colvard sought to give patients proper vision, not just passable vision. He brought tools and technologies to better help the patients, like ultrasound, Dr. Ndume said. He sought to help the patients not just with their eyesight but with other aspects of daily life. Dr. Ndume also noted Dr. Colvard’s contributions to the school nearby. He donated money that went toward buying books for the children, computers for the schools, and putting in a garden, she said. He contributed funds to help build that school an assembly hall.
Dr. Colvard was a good teacher, Dr. Ndume said. He would teach surgical skills and lecture when he traveled to Africa, and he would also provide assistance to other Namibian ophthalmologists with travel grants to attend eye meetings. “We have lost someone very valuable,” Dr. Ndume said, adding that she’s happy to be able to honor Dr. Colvard by adding his name to the humanitarian award.
“I want to honor Dr. Colvard for his extraordinary contributions,” said Susan MacDonald, MD, ASCRS Foundation Chair. “As a Foundation Board member, donor, and longstanding member of the Foundation’s International Division, his kindness and commitment to humanity have profoundly shaped our mission and values. Dr. Colvard embodies the essence of the Foundation’s mission—bringing vision, hope, and opportunity to those most in need. Through his thoughtful leadership, Dr. Colvard has inspired us all to strive for excellence, not only in surgical innovation but also in compassionate care. His ability to lead by example will leave an indelible mark on the Foundation for generations to come. The ASCRS Foundation is stronger and more impactful because of his enduring contributions.”
