Dr. Alice McPherson is an accomplished teacher, scholar, leader and pioneer dedicated to the study and treatment of retinal diseases. She received her baccalaureate and medical degrees and took her ophthalmology residency at the University of Wisconsin. She completed a retina fellowship with Dr. Charles Schepens at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary. Dr. McPherson is a professor of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine specializing in macular degeneration and vitreoretinal diseases and surgery. She is a Fellow of both the American College of Surgeons and the International College of Surgeons. Dr. McPherson’s scientific contributions to ophthalmology began with pioneering scleral buckling procedures, cryotherapy and xenon arc and laser photocoagulation in the treatment of retinal diseases. She was an early and vigorous advocate of photocoagulation in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy. This was initially a controversial position, later proven correct by the large, randomized prospective National Eye Institute Diabetic Retinopathy Study. In 1969 Dr. McPherson founded the Retina Research Foundation (RRF), one of the nation’s leading eye research organizations, dedicated to promote understanding, prevention and treatment of retinal diseases. To accomplish this, in 1973 the RRF started to fund pilot research studies and in 1976 began collaborating with outstanding organizations to support variety of programs in retina research around the world.