Beginning April 2009

SAN FRANCISCO – The American Academy of Ophthalmology (Academy) today announced that David W. Parke II, MD, will take the helm in April 2009 as the Academy’s new executive vice president (EVP) and chief executive officer (CEO). He will succeed retiring EVP/CEO H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, who has led the Academy since 1993.

“Dr. Parke brings an exceptional mix of clinical, academic, business and organizational expertise to this position,” said Michael Brennan, MD, president-elect of the Academy.

Dr. Parke has served on the Academy’s Board of Trustees since 2000 and is the 2008 Academy president. Dr. Parke is the president and CEO of the Dean McGee Eye Institute in Oklahoma City, one of the nation's largest nonprofit facilities devoted solely to research, clinical care and education in ophthalmology and vision science.  Dr. Parke is also professor and chair of the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

He holds many leadership positions, including being a founding member of MedEncentive, a company integrating evidence-based medicine into a pay-for-performance structure. Dr. Parke also serves as vice chair of the Board of Directors of the Ophthalmic Mutual Insurance Company (OMIC).

“While there were several excellent candidates for the position, it was clear from Dr. Parke’s abundant experience with the Academy, his leadership skills honed over years of service at Dean McGee Eye Institute, his knowledge of the profession, and his impeccable international reputation as an ophthalmologist that he was the right choice for the position,” added Dr. Brennan.

The Academy’s search committee, comprising seven ophthalmologists as well as an outside executive search consultant, conducted an aggressive, competitive search starting in August 2008. All candidates were measured against a set of criteria for the position. The Academy’s Board of Trustees, after reviewing the final candidates, selected Dr. Parke.

“We were very impressed by the quality of all of the EVP/CEO candidates and their credentials,” said Harry Zink, MD, chair of the EVP search committee and former president of the Academy. “We are also sincerely grateful to the members of the search committee for dedicating so much of their time to this important effort.”

On accepting the position, Dr. Parke commented: “My career as an ophthalmologist now will be dedicated to serving the profession I love. We have all benefited inestimably from the skills and commitment of Dr. Hoskins. He has led us all with a sure hand through many difficult challenges over the past 16 years, and our profession has fared well under his stewardship. I pledge to dedicate my best efforts to the same end.  I look forward to working with and representing the Academy’s members. This new position will be the greatest challenge and honor of my professional career.”

Dr. Hoskins noted that Dr. Parke has a full grasp on the needs of the profession. “One thing that has always impressed me about Dr. Parke is that he understands that the community, patients and our profession must come before individual needs,” said Dr. Hoskins.  “This philosophy, combined with his incredible experience, will serve our members and our profession very well. I am proud that he will be the Academy’s next executive vice president.”

More about Dr. Parke [full biography]

Dr. Parke is a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy, Stanford University and an Alpha Omega Alpha graduate of the Baylor College of Medicine. He completed residency training at Baylor College of Medicine, serving as chief resident. He then completed two years of fellowship training in diseases and surgery of the retina and vitreous. His professional activities have focused on that subspecialty and on medical education and biomedical organizational leadership and development.

He has served on the editorial board of two ophthalmic journals and was executive editor of the American Journal of Ophthalmology. He has received numerous biomedical research grants and was awarded the Dean’s Award for Distinguished Medical Service at the University of Oklahoma.  Dr. Parke lectures widely on topics in retinal diseases and surgery, academic professional development, medical liability insurance, and medical organizational leadership and management. He is recognized in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World and Best Doctors in America. He currently lives in Oklahoma City with his wife, Julie T. Parke, MD. They have three children.

About the American Academy of Ophthalmology

AAO is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons—Eye M.D.s—with more than 27,000 members worldwide.  Eye health care is provided by the three “O’s” – opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye surgery. For more information, visit the Academy's Web site at www.aao.org.