Inaugural Lindstrom Leadership Award and Lecture honors William J. Link, PhD
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William J. Link, PhD, will be honored with the inaugural Lindstrom Leadership Award and Lecture for his role in the field of ophthalmology.
The Lindstrom Leadership Award and Lecture will be presented to Link by Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, during the Hawaiian Eye meeting on Sunday, Jan. 16.
“I’m humbled. It’s quite a privilege,” Link said. “I have such high regard for Dr. Lindstrom, and to be selected as the first awardee under his name is an honor.”
The award was created by The Wyanoke Group to honor Lindstrom, a leader in ophthalmology who has served Ocular Surgery News as associate and chief medical editor for 40 years.
The Lindstrom Leadership Award and Lecture was developed to recognize a lifelong leader in the ophthalmology industry, investment community or professional society who has dedicated their service to nonclinical advances in ophthalmology, Lindstrom said.
“The nature and character of the award are special to me,” Link said. “Dr. Lindstrom, as an early surgical leader and medical leader in the ophthalmology space, recognized the value of building direct relationships with industry. He was one of the leaders to show how to bond between the capabilities and skills on the clinical/surgical side and the industry/product development side.”
Beginning his ophthalmic career in 1977, Link served as CEO of American Medical Optics, now Johnson & Johnson Vision, and Chiron Vision and co-founded Versant Ventures, Lindstrom said.
“He remains active today as co-founder and managing director of Flying L Partners, a leading investor in next-generation ophthalmology drugs and devices,” Lindstrom said of Link. “He has been active in organizing programs to promote investment and innovation in our field. He played a major role in developing several key verticals in our field, including refractive cataract surgery and the cash-pay channel, refractive corneal surgery including LASIK, presbyopia-correcting IOLs and minimally invasive glaucoma surgery. His influence on our field has been extraordinary and meaningful worldwide.”
“My passion is identifying new products and technologies that show promise to be developed and taken through the development process, get to the marketplace and help people, and I think having received this wonderful award will reinforce and energize me to continue that activity and commitment,” Link said. “When I think about what I feel great about, what makes me feel good ... is how many people have benefited from the projects that I’ve had the good fortune of being directly involved in, and I want to keep that up.”
Lindstrom said he hopes subsequent recipients “inspire a next generation of ophthalmic leaders who will potentially be award recipients in the following decades.”
- For more information:
- Richard L. Lindstrom, MD, can be reached at Minnesota Eye Consultants, 9801 Dupont Ave. S., Suite 200, Bloomington, MN 55431-3200; email: rllindstrom@mneye.com.
- William J. Link, PhD, can be reached at bill@williamjlink.com.
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