Alice McPherson Archive & Oral History Project

Alice R. McPherson (1926-2023)

Dr. Alice Ruth McPherson was a trailblazer. Born and raised in Canada, she completed her undergraduate and medical degrees here at UW-Madison, as well as a residency in ophthalmology at the University Hospital. In 1957, she received a fellowship with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, becoming the first female vitreoretinal fellow of Dr. Charles Schepens, considered to be “the father of modern retinal surgery,” who became her friend and mentor. Moving to Texas soon afterwards, Dr. McPherson became (as far as can be determined) the first full-time female retina specialist in the world. Her practice flourished thanks to her incredible commitment to her patients, her remarkable insight and instincts, and her determination to embrace new methods and advance the field of retina. She pioneered the application of many retinal treatments, including scleral buckling and cryotherapy, and won numerous awards for her work, notably becoming the first woman to receive the Gonin Medal. This PDF offers links to some of the many documents written about Dr. McPherson’s life & work.

Dr. McPherson was devoted to the advancement of knowledge and research in the field. In 1969, she founded the Retina Research Foundation (RRF) in Houston, Texas, with donor gifts. Through her philanthropy and support from a network of donors, the RRF supports numerous funding programs and awards for research on a variety of retinal diseases. In 2012, UW-Madison’s Eye Research Institute was renamed the McPherson Eye Research Institute (MERI) to recognize her immense contributions. Dr. McPherson was modest, hard-working, and social; her efforts brought together the most important figures in the field of retina. Her legacy is carried on both by the institutions she created and the countless patients whose lives were changed by her exceptional skill and care.

Project Overview

The University Archives and Oral History Program began discussions in Spring 2023 with the McPherson Estate and the McPherson Eye Research Institute to establish a McPherson Archives and oral history project at UW-Madison.  In conjunction with the Retina Research Foundation in Houston, the project began with oral history interviews in November 2023 at the American Academy of Ophthalmology Conference in San Francisco, where 19 oral history interviews were conducted.

In 2024 and 2025, the University Archives received from the McPherson estate over 20 boxes of archival material collected and curated by Alice McPherson over several decades. The collection still remains unprocessed, with plans to organize and describe it in the near future. If you would like access to this collection and/or additional information about what’s included, please contact Katie Nash.

Both the content in the archival collection as well as information included within the oral history interviews provide foundational source material and first-hand experiences for a documentary currently being created about Dr. McPherson. We will provide access to the documentary (as allowed) when it’s available.

Interviews

The following names are those who participated in an oral history interview between November 2023 and May 2024, with more oral histories planned for Fall 2025. When a name is hyperlinked, clicking on the name will take those interested to that person’s oral history (audio, summary, and transcript).

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank several individuals and organizations for making this collaborative project possible. First, thanks to the narrators who gave their time and energy to talk about Alice McPherson’s life and career and the impact she had on them. This project would not be possible without the Oral History Program’s student employees Brittany Doyle and Chloe McClaren. We want to thank MERI’s Michael Chaim and Jonathan Lang for all their assistance and support, as well as Virginia Gissel Schwanauer at the RRF who was instrumental in identifying people to participate in the oral history project. We thank the documentarian and co-interviewer Andy Schlachtenhaufen for helping bring Alice’s life and groundbreaking work to light for a broader community. Last and not least, we extend many thanks to the McPherson estate and all those involved for their expertise, close connections and relationships with Dr. McPherson, their time and support, and the generous donation of archival materials to the University Archives. This page was created by Distinguished Oral Historian Troy Reeves and University Archivist Katie Nash, with help from Chloe McClaren.