Irvin M Borish

Dr. Irvin M Borish, optometrist of Boca Raton passed away March 3, 2012. Memorial Services are Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 2:00 pm . Edgewater Point 23371 Bluewater Circle, Boca Raton, Fl. Contributions may be sent to The School of Optometry at Indiana University, Attn:Tami Tarpley for Borish Research Lab, 800 E Atwater Ave, Bloomington, In 47405 or American Optometric Foundation, 6110 Executive Blvd suite 506, Rockville, Md 20852 or Dr. Irvin M Borish Chair Optometry, University of Houston College of Optometry 505 J Davis Armistaed Bldg Houston

Irvin M. Borish, OD, FAAO

1913-2012

Irvin M. Borish was born on January 21, 1913 in Philadelphia, Penn. After graduating from Liberty High School in 1930, Borish enrolled in the arts and sciences program at Temple University, but soon recognized that the Great Depression limited career opportunities for liberal arts students. At the suggestion of an uncle who was an optometrist, Borish enrolled in Chicago’s Northern Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago.

After graduating with honors, he accepted a faculty position at the Northern Illinois College of Optometry to remain near his future wife Beatrice who was completing her degree in immunology at the University of Chicago. By 1942, he was named Assistant Dean.

In 1944, Dr. Borish started a successful private optometric practice in Kokomo, Ind. In 1973, he retired from private practice and returned to teaching at Indiana University's Optometry School. Borish retired from Indiana University in 1982, at which time he assumed the Benedict Professorship of Optometric Practice at the University of Houston. The Benedict Professorship was the first endowed professorship in the country supporting a member of an optometry school faculty. This position can only be filled by someone who sets and meets high standards of quality in ophthalmic materials provided and other aspects of patient care as well as instilling ethical behavior. University of Houston later established the Irvin M. Borish Chair in Optometric Practice, an endowed chair with more than one million dollars of support. In 1995, Indiana University honored him by establishing the Borish Center for Ophthalmic Research.

Over his career, Dr. Borish authored the first of numerous editions of “Clinical Refraction”, a standard textbook for optometry students. He lobbied for the establishment of an optometry school in Bloomington, Indiana, wrote nearly one hundred articles, delivered numerous lectures, served as a visiting professor to at least nine optometry schools, and patented hard toric (for the treatment of astigmatism) and bifocal contact lenses. He was active in the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry, coauthored the original manual used to accredit optometrists, and helped set standards for the safe manufacture of contact lenses. William R. Baldwin wrote a book about Dr. Irvin Borish through the years, as well as becoming “Optometry’s Architect”, entitled “Borish.”