Steven M. Podos ’58

Steven, an internationally recognized authority on glaucoma who dedicated his life to giving the gift of sight, died Oct. 10, 2009.

Born in Brooklyn, N.Y., Steven attended Midwood High School before coming to Princeton, where a classmate described him as “being bright and, at the same time, fun-loving.”  

As a chemistry major studying under E.C. “Ted” Taylor, he spent countless hours at Frick but also found time to win the interclub billiards championship on behalf of his eating club, Prospect, and play the saxophone in the Princeton Band.

After graduating from Princeton summa cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Sigma Xi, Steven earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School.  

Among the high points in his impressive professional trajectory from 1975 to 2005, Steven was professor/chairman/director of the Department of Ophthalmology, Mount Sinai School of Medicine and Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City; and executive vice president and COO of the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology.  

He received many prestigious awards and was honored with the Alcon Research Institute’s establishment of the annual Steven Podos Keynote Lecture.  

Steven took great pride in his academic progeny and trained a generation of vision researchers and ophthalmologists.

He was even more proud of his children, Richard, Lisa ’86, Marnie ’03, and Samantha ’05; and his grandson, Maitland. The class extends its deepest sympathy to them and to his wife, Wendy.