Recognizing Distinguished Alumni Richard Gutow, M.D., and Gary Gutow, M.D.

Recognizing Our 2021 Distinguished Alumni: Richard Gutow, M.D., and Gary Gutow, M.D.

Though our Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences is one of the oldest in the country, it was just at the beginning of significant growth when two brothers from Flint, Michigan, completed their residencies here in the 1960s and ’70s. Richard Gutow, M.D., and Gary Gutow, M.D., are part of a generation 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.

Richard Gutow, M.D.

The decision to attend medical school at the University of Michigan was an easy one, said Richard Gutow, M.D. It was where his father, Isadore Gutow, M.D., graduated in 1925.

During medical school, Richard Gutow worked in the laboratory of Mathew Alpern, Ph.D., a physiologist who became internationally known for his research on color vision, which helped him choose ophthalmology.

“I have always been interested in working with my hands on small things,” Dr. Gutow said, noting that even today he collects watches and marine clocks, some of which he has enjoyed taking apart and putting back together. “I also liked that the eye is amenable to examination—you are able to see what is going on and diagnose disease.”

After medical school, he completed an internship at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City—and returned to our department to do his residency. He then spent time in private practice in Flint, serving in the military, and training in retinal surgery before returning again to join our faculty in 1968 as a leader on the retinal service. He was one of just seven full-time clinicians.

It was an innovative time in the field. He was fortunate to see many firsts in our department, including technology acquisitions, he said in accepting his Distinguished Alumni Award. The list includes the Goldmann applanation tonometer to measure intraocular pressure, the binocular indirect ophthalmoscope for diagnosing retinal disorders, the xenon arc lamp photocoagulator and the argon laser for treating diabetic retinopathy, and the fundus camera for photographing the back of the eye. He also witnessed the department’s first cataract surgery with intraocular lens implantation and the first fluorescein angiogram, and he was part of a team that performed the first pars plana vitrectomies.

“But probably the most interesting and exciting thing to witness during my 63-year association with the department has been the spectacular and dramatic growth in its size and reputation,” he said. Today, the department has 88 clinical faculty and 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 in Nashville, and he practiced there until retiring in 1994. He remains a stalwart supporter of the Kellogg Eye Center, including philanthropically. He and his wife, Susan, have made gifts to the Alumni and Faculty Annual Fund and to the Alumni Legacy Fund, among other areas. They are also supportive of other organizations at U-M, including the Museum of Art, the University Musical Society, and the Center for the Education of Women.

“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.”

Gary Gutow, M.D.

As Gary Gutow, M.D., looks back over his career, the highlights that emerge reflect a devotion to medicine, his patients, and his colleagues. Key milestones include founding and directing the retina division at Vanderbilt University as well as starting and growing the first retinaonly private practice in Nashville.

“It has been very rewarding to build a practice, to bring new treatments to patients, and to have decades-long friendships in ophthalmology,” he says.

Dr. Gutow became interested in ophthalmology during medical school at U-M, where he enjoyed a rotation in the department and worked on research with Harold Falls, M.D., and Mathew Alpern, Ph.D. He fulfilled his pre-med requirements and did undergraduate work in English before completing his medical degree. He went on to do an internship at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. He then became a captain in the U.S. Air Force, serving in Korea and in the Department of Ophthalmology at Letterman General Hospital in San Francisco.

He recognized that U-M had an up-and-coming ophthalmology program, which drew him back to do his residency. He completed it in 1973 and stayed on for three months as an instructor on the faculty. It prepared him well for his career, he says. “What I appreciated most were the people. The faculty members were talented and accessible, and my fellow residents were first-rate. The residency had a good mix of practical experience and didactic learning.”

Finding especially the surgical aspects of retinal care exciting, he went on to do an 18-month fellowship with Charles Schepens, M.D., often called the “father of modern retinal surgery,” at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary and Harvard Medical School. He was awarded a prestigious Heed Scholarship and membership in the Society of Heed Fellows.

Dr. Gutow then joined the faculty of Vanderbilt University and was named the inaugural chief of the Retina Division. In 1978, he went into private practice, establishing Retina-Vitreous Associates, the first private retina practice in Nashville, which is now known as Tennessee Retina and has grown to 11 ophthalmologists. He also served as chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at TriStar Centennial Medical Center in Nashville for 13 years. He performed the first argon laser treatment for retinal disease and first pars plana vitrectomy in Nashville. The practice participates in numerous multi-center clinical trials.

Throughout his career, he enjoyed serving the ophthalmology community through many professional organizations. He is a founding member of the Schepens International Society as well as a member the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Retinal Specialists, the Aspen Retinal Detachment Society, among other organizations. He served as president of the Nashville Academy of Ophthalmology and as a trustee of the Tennessee Academy of Ophthalmology. He is a longtime member of the U-M Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Alumni Advisory Board.

His achievements as an alumnus elevate the department and the Kellogg Eye Center, which he has generously supported philanthropically over the years. He also supports many other entities and organizations, including the Kathryn and Gary Gutow Advised Fund at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Public Library Foundation, and the Nashville Symphony, among others.

“I am very grateful and honored to receive this Distinguished Alumni Award,” he says. “I am deeply proud to be an alumnus of the University of Michigan Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and I will always treasure this recognition.”