A $2 million gift from the Lansche family and Tatiana A. Lansche will establish the Dr. Richard and Tatiana Lansche Distinguished Chair in Ophthalmology at the
Shiley Eye Center of the
University of California, San Diego, officials announced today.
To celebrate the endowment, a reception and dedication ceremony will be held Thursday, April 22, from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Shiley Eye Center, 9415 Campus Point Drive. Shiley faculty will join the Lansche family, professional colleagues and friends to mark the occasion.
Dr. Stuart Brown, chairman of the Shiley Eye Center, said the contribution by Mrs. Lansche honors the work and memory of her late husband, Dr. Richard K. Lansche, a respected San Diego-area ophthalmologist.
“Both Richard’s and Tatiana’s contributions to the San Diego medical community and to the ongoing mission of medical education are immense,” said Dr. Brown. “This endowed chair will not only honor and recognize Dr. Lansche for his distinction in the field of ophthalmology, but it will provide invaluable research support here at Shiley Eye Center.”
A UCSD search committee will select the inaugural holder of the chair later this year.
A resident of Rancho Santa Fe, the late Dr. Lansche was a graduate of Cornell University Medical School. He completed his internship at Barnes Hospital in St. Louis and his residency at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. After marrying Tatiana in 1954, he entered the U.S. Army as a Captain.
Following his military service, Dr. Lansche spent two months as a Fellow in Ophthalmology in London, England. He and Tatiana later settled in La Jolla, where they established a solo practice in Ophthalmology.
Dr. Lansche obtained a hospital appointment to the Scripps Hospital and as a Consultant in Ophthalmology and Neuro-Ophthalmology to the Scripps Clinic. For two years, Dr. Lansche served as chairman of the La Jolla Academy of Medicine, an organization that Mrs. Lansche continues to be involved in today.
Throughout his career Dr. Lansche was an active member of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; the Societe Francaise Ophthalmogie, Member-titulaire de la Societe; the American Association of Military Ophthalmologists, and the American Intra-Ocular Implant Society. He was a Fellow of the Society of Military Ophthalmologists and President of the San Diego Eye Bank. In 1960, Dr. Lansche presented the prestigious Barraquer Lecture in Spain.