Recognizing Our 2021 Distinguished Alumni: Richard Gutow, M.D., and Gary Gutow, M.D.
“
I HAVE ENJOYED MY TIME IN THE
DEPARTMENT AND MY SMALL ROLE
IN WHAT HAS GONE ON OVER THESE
is one of the oldest in the country, it was just at the beginning
“
Though our Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences
NUMBER OF YEARS, AND I THANK
of significant growth when two brothers from Flint, Michigan, completed their residencies here in the 1960s and ’70s. Richard
YOU FOR THIS HONOR.
Gutow, M.D., and Gary Gutow, M.D., are part of a generation
— Richard Gutow, M.D.
that led great advances in the field, including in their chosen subspecialty of retina, and they have been integral to the growth both in size and reputation of the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center. We were proud to recognize them as our 2021 Distinguished Alumni in September.
lens implantation and the first fluorescein angiogram, and he Richard Gutow, M.D.
was part of a team that performed the first pars plana vitrecto-
The decision to attend medical school at
mies.
the University of Michigan was an easy
“But probably the most interesting and exciting thing to
one, said Richard Gutow, M.D. It was
witness during my 63-year association with the department has
where his father, Isadore Gutow, M.D.,
been the spectacular and dramatic growth in its size and reputa-
graduated in 1925.
tion,” he said. Today, the department has 88 clinical faculty and
During medical school, Richard Gutow worked in the laboratory of Mathew Alpern, Ph.D., a physiologist
18 research faculty. Dr. Gutow left the faculty in 1981 to join the busy private practice that his brother, Gary Gutow, M.D., had launched
who became internationally known for his research on color
in Nashville, and he practiced there until retiring in 1994. He
vision, which helped him choose ophthalmology.
remains a stalwart supporter of the Kellogg Eye Center, includ-
“I have always been interested in working with my hands
ing philanthropically. He and his wife, Susan, have made gifts to
on small things,” Dr. Gutow said, noting that even today he col-
the Alumni and Faculty Annual Fund and to the Alumni Legacy
lects watches and marine clocks, some of which he has enjoyed
Fund, among other areas. They are also supportive of other or-
taking apart and putting back together. “I also liked that the eye
ganizations at U-M, including the Museum of Art, the University
is amenable to examination — you are able to see what is going
Musical Society, and the Center for the Education of Women.
on and diagnose disease.” After medical school, he completed an internship at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City — and returned to our depart-
“I have enjoyed my time in the department and my small role in what has gone on over these number of years,” he said. “And I thank you for this honor.”
ment to do his residency. He then spent time in private practice in Flint, serving in the military, and training in retinal surgery
Gary Gutow, M.D.
before returning again to join our faculty in 1968 as a leader on
As Gary Gutow, M.D., looks back over
the retinal service. He was one of just seven full-time clinicians.
his career, the highlights that emerge
It was an innovative time in the field. He was fortunate to see many firsts in our department, including technology acquisi-
tients, and his colleagues. Key milestones
tions, he said in accepting his Distinguished Alumni Award. The
include founding and directing the retina
list includes the Goldmann applanation tonometer to measure
division at Vanderbilt University as well
intraocular pressure, the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope for
as starting and growing the first retina-
diagnosing retinal disorders, the xenon arc lamp photocoagulator and the argon laser for treating diabetic retinopathy, and the
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reflect a devotion to medicine, his pa-
only private practice in Nashville. “It has been very rewarding to build a practice, to bring
fundus camera for photographing the back of the eye. He also
new treatments to patients, and to have decades-long friendships
witnessed the department’s first cataract surgery with intraocular
in ophthalmology,” he says.
