In recognition of his career-long commitment to mentoring Joseph F. Rizzo, III, MD, the Simmons Lessell Professor of Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School (HMS), received the 2023 Harvard Ophthalmology Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award.
Dr. Rizzo joined Mass Eye and Ear in 1985 as a clinical fellow in neuro-ophthalmology, where he received the 1986 Fellow of the Year Award, and has served as a full-time Harvard Ophthalmology faculty member since 1986. He succeeded Dr. Simmons Lessell as Director of the Neuro-Ophthalmology Service at Mass Eye and Ear in 2005.
Over the past 37 years, Dr. Rizzo has proven to be an exceptional mentor and teacher, supervising more than 300 residents and clinical fellows, many of whom have gone on to have careers at top academic institutions across the country, including Harvard Ophthalmology.
For more than 25 years, Dr. Rizzo directed the Neuro-Ophthalmology section of the Lancaster Course in Ophthalmology—one of the oldest and largest ophthalmic education courses in the world, designed for residents and practicing ophthalmologists. In 2000, he was recognized with the Teacher of the Year Award by students attending the Lancaster Course.
Dr. Rizzo also recently received the 2023 HMS William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award. This prestigious award honors exceptional mentors who have made a lifetime commitment to help trainees develop and advance their professional careers in clinical medicine, research, teaching, and administration.