377
SURVEY OF OPHTHALMOLOGY
VOLUME 43
•
NUMBER 5
•
MARCH–APRIL 1999
© 1999 by Elsevier Science Inc. 0039-6257/99/$19.00
All rights reserved. PII S0039-6257(99)00049-1
In Memoriam
Dr. Frank W. Newell is probably best known for
his long and illustrious tenure as publisher and Edi-
tor-in-Chief of the
American Journal of Ophthalmology
(
AJO
). Lesser known is the fact that he was the first
Editor-in-Chief of
Survey of Ophthalmology
in 1956. At
that time the editorial concept of the journal was not
to produce the type of review articles that define the
journal today; rather, the mission of the original
Sur-
vey
was to cover the foreign literature and periodi-
cals not regularly read by ophthalmologists, select
articles of particular importance, condense them,
and publish them with critical comments written by
members of the Editorial Board. As Dr. Newell wrote
in his contribution to a Special Section commemo-
rating
Survey’s
first 25 years,
1
the journal “got off to a
rocky start.”
He noted, “. . . I learned that the abstractors and
translators were not at the top of the hierarchy of ed-
itorial skills . . . and the editorial comments by ex-
perts in the field were sometimes disappointing.
Some consisted of biting criticism that made one
wonder why the paper was selected for condensation
in the first place. Others acclaimed the papers with-
out adding further insights . . . I was nearly over-
whelmed with editorial busywork without an ade-
quate clerical staff.”
Dr. Newell worked at establishing the
Survey
for
two years, then in 1958 passed the reins to Dr. Irving
Leopold, while he continued to contribute his sub-
stantial editorial talents to the Editorial Board of
AJO
. He became Editor-in-Chief of the
AJO
in 1965
and served in that role until 1991. He brought the
journal to a peak of excellence, and it was universally
recognized as a major entity for publishing studies
that have advanced our profession. His leadership at
the
AJO
was recognized in the July 1985 issue, which
marked the 100th anniversary of the journal, as well
as 20 years of editorship under the aegis of Frank W.
Newell.
2
This festschrift contained numerous letters
from leaders in ophthalmology and other academ-
ics, who complimented Dr. Newell not only on his
qualities as an editor, but on his many contributions
to ophthalmology.
Dr. Newell’s supreme talents were as a communi-
cator and a leader. These talents formed the basis
for his enormous success not only as an editor, but
also as a teacher, administrator, author, and leader
in our professional organizations. At the University
of Chicago, he became head of the Section of Oph-
thalmology in 1953, led the section to department
status, and served as Chairman of the Department of
Ophthalmology until 1981. He served as president
of numerous societies, including the American
Academy of Ophthalmology, the Association for Re-
search in Vision and Ophthalmology, the American
Board of Ophthalmology, the Association of Univer-
Frank W. Newell, MD
January 1916–November 1998