Robert L. Stamper, M. D.

Robert Stamper’s international reputation in ophthalmology is based on his deep devotion to clinical excellence, research, and teaching. Educated at Cornell University, he received his MD at SUNY.  He completed his ophthalmology residency, followed by a fellowship in Glaucoma at Washington University,  sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. There he served as an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology and Director of Ophthalmic Photography and Fluorescein Angiography.

In 1972 Dr. Bruce Spivey recruited him to join the faculty at CPMC and a few years later he was also named to the faculty of the University of California School of Optometry.  Dr. Stamper succeeded Spivey as Department Chair in 1986 where he was successful in strengthening the faculty and worked to raise endowment funds for Pacific Vision Foundation to support the department. He also was successful in achieving full voting rights for the ophthalmology program from the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) which had previously been denied due to the lack of a medical school affiliation.

During his tenure at CPMC he served as Director of the Glaucoma Service for over 25 years where he directed a successful fellowship program. Prior to being named Chair, he had also served as Program Director, and as Senior Research Associate of the Smith Kettlewell Institute of Visual Sciences.

Robert Stamper is a Distinguished Professor of Clinical Ophthalmology and Director Emeritus of the Glaucoma Service at the University of California, San Francisco and has served on the Glaucoma Research Foundation Board since 1987.

He has held leadership positions at the University of California, the UC School of Optometry, San Francisco Veterans Administration Health Center,  Highland Hospital, The Joint Commission of Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology, Mt. Zion Hospital, Fort Ord, Stanford University, UC Davis, Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center, Jerusalem, Oakland Naval Hospital, The National Society to Prevent Blindness, Oxford University Eye Hospital, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, and USDA Ophthalmic Devices Advisory Panel.

For over 30 years, in addition to his glaucoma practice, he has taught courses and lectured widely, saying, “It is my great pleasure to share what I have learned about glaucoma with colleagues and future ophthalmologists.”

The list of his invited lectures around the globe is exhaustive, most recently including Venezuela, Peru, New Zealand, India, Israel, and Ethiopia. Incredibly, the list of his national lectures is equally as long and as distinguished, including Harvard, Washington University in St Louis, Johns Hopkins, and Yale. He is the senior author of the 7^th and 8^th editions of the esteemed glaucoma textbook, “Becker-Shaffer’s Diagnosis and Therapy of the Glaucomas.”

Robert Stamper has served as a mentor, advisor, and research collaborator to over 250 medical students, residents and postdoctoral fellows while also pursuing research interests in the pathophysiology and visual pathophysiology of glaucomatous damage, in glaucoma screening, in medical and surgical management of glaucoma, as well as in cataract etiology and management. His recent research interests include drug and surgical device trials, new diagnostic tests of glaucoma and screening and treatment of glaucoma in the resource challenged parts of the world.

The list of his awards is awesome, including the Helen Keller Award of the Lions Eye Foundation, Distinguished Alumni Award of Washington University, the Troutman Master Teacher award of State University of New York and the Kimura Teaching award at UCSF. . He was awarded the American Academy of Ophthalmology’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008 for his commitment to excellence in the study and treatment of Glaucoma.

We are proud to include Robert Stamper as one of our most inspiring colleagues and grateful to note his words to Dr. Kutzscher when informed about his inclusion in this website, “I am honored to be included in your project, and I would even pay dues if needed! This program has been a very important part of my life.”