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Optician Awards: Lifelong passion for optics

Chris Bennett caught up with Professor Bernard Gilmartin, winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award sponsored by Topcon at Optician Awards 2024 and asked him to reflect on a lifetime in optics
Professor Bernard Gilmartin

‘My first encounter with ophthalmic matters was when, at 11 years old in 1956, I was prescribed -1D to correct my myopia,’ says Professor Bernard Gilmartin, Emeritus Professor of Optometry at Aston University. ‘This was a complete mystery to me as I was not aware of any history of myopia in my family and very few of my school friends were myopic.’  

A trip to the Manchester library for a copy of Bates’ book Better Sight Without Glasses followed. This, says Prof Gilmartin, presented a variety of suggested treatments for myopia, which he says seeded his interest in an area of optics that would come to win him praise from the optical profession.  

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