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Dr. Gordon Glenn Heath passed away Friday, June 4, 2004, at the Bloomington Hospital in Bloomington, Indiana. He is survived by Dorothy, his loving wife of 50 years, five children, and twelve grandchildren. Dr. Heath was born in Sultan, Washington, on September 22, 1922, but always considered himself a native Californian because he and his family moved there when he was only 5 years old. He enrolled in the University of California at Berkeley in 1940 to pursue a degree in chemical engineering, but the outbreak of World War II altered that plan. He joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and, in its V-12 program, attended Los Angeles City College, Peru (Nebraska) State Teachers College, and Northwestern University in Chicago, where he graduated from Midshipmen's School with a commission as Ensign. He was immediately sent to New Guinea where he joined his ship, the U.S.S. Carter Hall (LSD-3), just in time to participate in the invasion of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines. Later, after other invasions and voyages to many Pacific ports, the Carter Hall was sent soon after war's end to Shanghai, where Dr. Heath was appointed its Commanding Officer, a post he held until returning to the U.S. for discharge from active duty. It was while on terminal leave before joining civilian life that he was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1946 Professor Heath resumed his education, entering the University of Southern California. He was influenced to study optometry by a boyhood friend whom he joined at Los Angeles College of Optometry in 1948, where he earned the BVS degree in 1950 and the OD degree in 1951. He entered the graduate program in physiological optics at the University of California, Berkeley in the fall of that year, later receiving the MS and PhD degrees. It was at this time that he met and married his wife, Dorothy. Dr. Heath came to Indiana University in 1955. He served as director of the optometry clinic from 1955 to 1960 and director of the graduate program in physiological optics from 1960 to 1970 at which time he became Director of the Division of Optometry. Under his leadership, the Division was elevated to School status in 1975 and he was appointed Dean, a position he held until July 31, 1988. Dr. Heath will be fondly remembered by the many graduate students he has mentored during his lifetime. One of his greatest accomplishments at the Indiana University School of Optometry was the number of graduates who have gone on to become associate deans, deans, and presidents of other optometry institutions around the country and the world. Dr. Heath served as president of the Association of Schools and Colleges of Optometry from 1963 to 1965 and president of the American Academy of Optometry for the years 1983 and 1984. He held appointments as research consultant to the Office of the Surgeon General of the Army; member of the National Academy of Sciences/National Research Council Committee on Vision; the Advisory Council for Health Professions, HEW; and the National Advisory Eye Council, National Eye Institute, NIH. His research interests centered on color vision and photoreceptor directionality. He authored numerous papers on these and other research and professional subjects. He also co-authored two books: The Eye and Sight and Form and Space Vision. Dr. Heath was highly respected for both his scientific and professional contributions to vision science. Among the many honors and awards that Dr. Heath received during his lifetime are the following:
Dr. Heath was very active in the Rotary Club and was a past president of the University Men's Club. Services were held on Saturday, June 12, 2004, in Bloomington, Indiana. Internment was at Valhalla Memory Gardens. Memorial contributions may be made to the Dr. Gordon G. Heath Memorial Fund--IU School of Optometry and sent to the Indiana University Foundation (St. Route 46 Bypass, Bloomington, IN 47405).
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