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Obituary – Dr Richard L. Anderson, the Legend

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of one of the World’s finest oculoplastic surgeons, Dr Richard L Anderson.

Dr. Richard Anderson (Rick) was a World-renowned professor, author and speaker. He has published over 300 scientific peer-reviewed articles, over 100 book chapters, and 3 books on eyelid, orbital and facial plastic and cosmetic surgery. He has delivered over 1,000 papers at scientific meetings. He was the founder of many modern-day techniques in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery of the eyelids and face, such as the tarsal strip procedure, the myectomy surgery for blepharospasm and the transorbital approach to decompression in thyroid eye disease, just to name a few. He has been on the Editorial Board of 11 journals in the field, including Archives of Facial Plastic Surgery, Archives of Ophthalmology and OPRS (Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery).

He was one of the original Botox investigators with over 30 years of experience and a Board member for the Benign Essential Blepharospasm Foundation and the Orbital Society. He was honored by ASOPRS the Outstanding Contributions Award and by ESOPRS the Outstanding Teaching Award at the 37th Annual Meeting in Bucharest.

Rick’s most important contribution to our field is, without doubt, his mentorship. In his 42-year long career, Rick had over 120 fellows and grand-fellows. He had 40 ASOPRS fellows, 13 international fellows and 63 grand and grand-grand-fellows. His prestigious fellowship was not just about learning to be a well-rounded oculoplastic surgeon but “A way of life”. Rick was an incredible athlete and sports fan for which reason he chose to live in an outdoors paradise. Being his fellow involved, besides operating the left side of every single patient, skiing, biking and attending the Utah Jazz games. Rick was a fearless Utah Jazz fan and probably the one who got kicked out of the game more often than any other supporter in NBA.

 

But, deep in his heart, Dr Anderson was a compassionate and caring physician. He treated every single patient with love and professionalism, whether he or she was Joe or Jill Sixpack from a remote corner of Utah or a Middle Eastern royalty. He was a loving husband, father and grandfather as well as a loving preceptor for his fellows.

Rick leaves behind his wife Susan, their three children and six grandchildren. He also leaves behind his family of fellows scattered throughout the World but, nonetheless, united by his “Way of life”.
RIP

Dan Georgescu, MD, PhD
Anderson fellow

 

 

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