OphthaL PhysioL Opt. Vol, 17, No, 1, p, 90, 1997The College of Optometrists, Published by Elsevier Science Ltd

Printed in Great Britain

ELSEVIER

PII: S0275-5408(96)00081-6

OBITUARY

Irving FattProfessor Irving Fatt died on October 5th, 1996. His passing is a sad moment for the Contact Lensfraternity due to the impressive work he has done over the years on contact lens materials. He was born inChicago, Illinois in 1920 but on completing High School his family moved to Los Angeles and he continuedto live most of his life in California, He started his studentship during World War II and following servicein the US Air Force he embarked on his academic career with MS in Chemistry and then a PhD inChemistry at the University of Southern California, He was employed as a research chemist by Chevron OilCompany until 1957 when he joined the engineering faculty of Berkeley, In 1962 he began teaching andconducting research on the application of engineering principles and analysis to biological and medicalproblems. In 1972 he was made Professor of Physiological Optics and Engineering Science in the School ofOptometry at Berkeley, During his time at Berkeley he was Associate and then Acting Dean of the Schooland latterly held Emeritus status. His publication list runs to over 200 entries and includes papers onpetroleum engineering, blood chemistry, corneal biophysics and contact lens technology,

I first met Irving Fatt in the early 1970s when he came on sabbatical to the Contact Lens Department ofMoorfields Eye Hospital where I was a Research Fellow, I was made his assistant and we worked up in theattic laboratory of the old Moorfields home in Holborn, It was here that I learnt all there was to knowabout oxygen transmission through contact lens materials. He was an inspiring teacher and made anysubject, however dry, come alive. We published a number of papers together in the middle 1970s and Irvingwas always most encouraging and generous to his co-authors. He was never worried about saying what hethought about others in scientific work and very much championed for the status of research. He had anongoing fondness for the UK, and even after his retirement from Berkeley in 1983 he continued to holidayas well as speak on these shores. He received numerous awards over the years from a variety of optometricassociations in the USA and internationally, he also was the British Contact Lens Association Medallist in1993 having spoken at the B,C,L,A, Annual Conference a number of times,

Irving died after an almost 5-year struggle with cancer. Due to failing health he had to cancel hisattendance at the Eighth Symposium on the Material Science and Chemistry of Contact Lenses, He was tohave presented a keynote address on work he had been doing on tear film studies. The contact lensmanufacturers, specifically CIBA Vision, Menicon, Pilkington Barnes-Hind, Wesley Jesson, Bausch &Lomb, Paragon Vision Sciences, Vistakon and Polymer Technology presented Irving with an engravedstatuette and endowed a lectureship in his name to be given at each successive symposium.

Irving Fatt's work over the years was appreciated and needed by practitioners and manufacturers alikeas he embraced the whole spectrum of the field with his research. He will be sorely missed by us all and I,personally, am very proud to have worked with him and known his friendship,

Judith Morris

90