Educational Resource

Center in Department of Ophthalmology Named for Luke White

Luke White

Renovations in the ophthalmic practice lab completed the Milton (Luke) White, M.D., Educational Resource Center in the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital. According to Lindsay Knox, development director for the UAB Department of Ophthalmology and the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital, not only is the practice lab an important educational resource, but it also is essential in maintaining a top-notch residency program and is a critical recruiting tool for future ophthalmology residents. “Additionally, this project is providing us with an opportunity to appropriately honor one of our finest graduates,” she says. “The physical renovation of the space includes up-to-date workstations and computer technology as well as the latest equipment, including a state-of-the-art phacoemulsification machine and operating microscope.”

Luke White, who passed away in 2009, attended UAB for both his undergraduate degree (cum laude) in 1982 and later his medical degree (cum laude) in 1986, graduating fourth in his class and serving as class president. He completed a general surgery internship at Yale University; a pre-residency research program at the Retina Research Foundation of Alabama; an American Retina Fellowship program at the Universitat Augenklinik Cologne, West Germany; an ophthalmology residency at UAB; and a vitreoretinal disease fellowship at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Michigan.

White served on many committees and boards, including the Alumni Executive Committee of the UAB Department of Ophthalmology. He was president of the Callahan Eye Foundation Hospital medical staff from 1997 to 1999. He was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology and was a member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retina Specialists, the Alabama Academy of Ophthalmology, the Medical Association of the State of Alabama, the Jefferson County Medical Society, and the Christian Medical Ministry of Alabama. With his love for the Birmingham community and his passion to serve, he and his partners formed Retina Consultants of Alabama in 1992. Along with Richard M. Feist, M.D.; John O. Mason III, M.D.; Martin L. Thomley, M.D.; and Michael A. Albert Jr., M.D., White served patients and provided the hope and gift of sight to thousands through a skilled and compassionate hand, promoting leading-edge research and sharing his knowledge with future generations of clinicians. His legacy will continue to guide his practice and all those who worked with him.

Maintaining the Momentum / Winter 2011