Ferdinand Phinizy Calhoun, Jr.
from the American Ophthalmological Society
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F. PHINIZY CALHOUN, JR., MD By Thomas M. Aaberg, MD
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F. PHINIZY CALHOUN, JR. M.D., ONE OF THE MOST INFLUENTIAL OPHTHALMOLOGISTS in the Southeast, died June 21st at Emory University Hospital at the age of 84. Dr. Calhoun was a fourth-generation Atlanta physician and grandson of Abner W Calhoun, the South's first specialist in diseases ofthe eye and ear. His great-grandfather, A.B. Calhoun, helped found the Atlanta Medical College in 1854, one ofthe antecedent institutions which later combined to form Emory University School of Medicine. All four Calhouns thus served either on the Emory faculty or one ofits forerunner schools. Dr. Calhoun graduated from the University ofGeorgia in 1932, received his medical degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1936 and did his postgraduate training at the Eye Institute of ColumbiaPresbyterian Hospital in NewYork. He was a major in the U.S. Army Medical Corps duringWorld War II, serving in the Army's 2nd General Hospital in England and France. He joined the medical faculty at Emory in 1941, where he helped to train more than 100 ophthalmology residents. Under his direction, ophthalmology at Emory was established as a separate department in the medical school, and he served as its chairman from 1950 to 1978. During his professional career he had a very active clinical practice with particular interest in the diagnosis and management of epithelial downgrowth into the anterior chamber and the management of dislocated lenses. Dr. Calhoun also directed the L.F. Montgomery Ophthalmic Pathology Laboratory at Emory and continued his involvement with ophthalmic pathology in this lab until his death.
In 1955, Dr. Calhoun established the Georgia chapter ofthe Society to Prevent Blindness and was responsible for the first preschool vision and glaucoma screenings in the state of Georgia. During his career, he also established the Georgia Society ofOphthalmic Research and served as president ofboth the American Ophthalmological Society and Georgia Ophthalmological Society. He retired from academic responsibilities at Emory in 1979 andwas named an emeritus professor. An endowed professorship was created in his honor in 1991. Dr. Calhoun trained generations of ophthalmologists who are now taking care ofpatients all over the southeast. This is his legacy.