Professor Robert 'Bob' Jackson Fletcher 1925- 2019
Tribute by daughter Dr Janet Voke
Robert Jackson Fletcher was born on July 12 1925 in Twickenham, Middlesex where his father practised as an independent optometrist for over fifty years.
Bob, as he liked to be known, followed his father and trained at the Northampton Polytechnic in London, which became City University in 1966). Later, his daughter Janet, would follow.
At the oldest training establishment for optometry worldwide dating to 1894, Bob observed the enjoyment his father gained from a career as an independent clinician and whose fascination with the human visual system was conveyed to his only child. After school at Denmead preparatory school and Hampton Grammar School war service followed, first in the RAF and then as a coal miner in the Staffordshire deep mines. Lifelong migraine attacks (with disturbing, though to him equally fascinating, visual symptoms) required him to transfer early from flying duties to mining during the war years. In 1946 he married Muriel King, in their joint home town Twickenham, and remained a devoted, faithful and loving husband until her death in July 2019 also at aged 94 years, just three weeks before his own. He was a most dedicated and caring father who also took enormous pleasure in watching his one grandchild, Miranda, daughter of Janet, grow up.
Following qualifications and registration as an optometrist in London and a Masters research degree at Manchester University department of Ophthalmic Optics, Fletcher worked temporarily in practice with his father before pursuing teaching and research in London where he stayed for the remainder of his career rising to Professor and Head of Department for over two decades at City University. Bob’s optometric interests were wide and initially he combined a very demanding teaching schedule requiring four evenings a week to part- time students in addition to lecturing to full-time students by day, with research on many aspects of ocular physiology, physiological optics and contact lenses.
He pioneered the early scleral contact lenses, ideally suited for many diseased eyes and as artificial eye shells, with his fellow-student and life-long friend, Norman Bier. Both were awarded patents on their novel inventions. In his retirement Fletcher returned to this love ofcontact lens development, working with his former Italian student, Luigi Lupelli, who became the first Professor of Contact lenses in Italy, a friend, colleague and co-author for almost fifty years. Together they designed an acrylic osteo-odonto-keratoprosthesis implant which has given residual sight to many people with low vision throughout the world. Exhibits from these early contact lenses can be viewed in the extensive London Museum of the British Optical Association.
With his unique expertise on contact lens development now was widely recognised worldwide, Fletcher was invited in 1957 to the USA to lecture in several established University departments of Optometry and Physiological optics, assist clinicians and contribute to conferences. There he met a wide multi-disciplinary group of researchers - optometrists, physiologists and neuro-psychologists, who had built on the foundation of Physiological Optics, a discipline first pioneered by the renowned German physiologist Helmhotz in the nineteenth century. Uniquely American Universities were, even in the 60s, embracing the fundamentals of the physics and physiology of vision into eye care training courses. The American model extending beyond the clinical domain, made a strong impact on Fletcher who returned determined to incorporate the rigour of visual science into the degree courses which he was responsible for establishing as the first optometry degrees outside the USA.
The Northampton College of Advanced Technology in London gained University status in 1966 and Fletcher’s influence as the first UK Professor in the subject would soon extend beyond the confines of London as additional University departments of optometry became established in the UK and later abroad, principally through his the guidance acting as external advisor and examiner. Many of his former students at City University took on positions of responsibility in these new university departments worldwide. By the 1990s optometry departments in universities throughout the world had universally changed their titles to embrace Visual Science with Optometry, recognising the profound influence of the fundamental science of Physiological Optics promoted by Fletcher in London.
In the early 60s Fletcher was invited again to the USA, undertaking research into the human accommodation (the focussing mechanism for viewing near objects) at Indiana University accompanied this time by his wife and two daughters. His elder, Janet, aged 11 years, became the long-suffering sole human observer for these researches, tolerating long days fixed rigid in a dental grip mould in an airless dark basement staring at targets to order, trained to keep perfectly still in 100 degrees heat! Over a career spanning 70 years Fletcher was a prolific writer of over 150 publications, reviewing scholarly texts and writing 16 textbooks sometimes co-authored with his former students. His first text ‘Aspects of Intraocular Physiology’ which appeared in the late 50’s. and was cited just his year by the Swedish Professor and Dean of the Optometry School in Texas, one of his former students. His last publication, written jointly with Italian ophthalmologists on colour vision changes in Parkinson disease, was published as he entered his ninth decade.
Coincident with the NASA Space programme Fletcher collaborated with American optometrists researching how to protect astronauts’ eyes from harmful solar radiation. This enhanced his growing interest in the ocular demands at work and the growing need for adequate industrial eye protection at a time when there were many avoidable injuries threatening sight. His ‘Ophthalmics in Industry’ was published in 1961, following a patent taken out for his Mastervision Screener which was developed for wide use in industry and the working environment, the first such screening device in Europe. Later as part of his research at City University he would undertake essential vision research for the UK and Norwegian military on visual display units and sighting devices and colour perception supervising many doctorate students. Throughout his wide teaching commitments, design and implementation of the first undergraduate and post graduate courses for optometrists in London, the first outside North America, together with his many research interests, Fletcher worked with great devotion and enthusiasm and a meticulous sense of rigour and attention to detail. His sharp scientific mind, combined with ever present humility and a great sense of humanity towards his fellow man, combined with a strong work ethic, drew great respect from both colleagues and students. Teaching two, and even three generations of the same established optical family over a career lasting seven decades Fletcher displayed special compassion to overseas students far from home at times of conflict in their countries. He welcomed them to his modest home in small groups, particularly at Christmas to demonstrate its profound meaning to this man with a deep, personal Christian faith which permeated every aspect of his life. Many former students recall his great kindness and generosity which sat alongside his profound awe and wonder at the faultless design of his maker for the human visual system.
Over many years as a senior examiner for the professional post-graduate examinations, both written and practical, set by the British Optical Association, he influenced important revisions to the training syllabus for every undergraduate optometrist in the UK. With invitations to lecture in over twenty countries strong professional friendships were forged, which endured right up until his death. Many Indian, Malaysian, Chinese and students from the Caribbean and African countries enrolled in the London courses, both before degree status and thereafter, with several others from Israel, Jordan, New Zealand, Australia and European countries who stayed on to undertake research under his direction. His enthusiastic invited lecture programmes in over twenty countries recruited further students who came to study in London, and later become Professors of optometry training the next generation in their own countries. From the 80’s onwards into retirement Fletcher was invited to liaise with heads of government health departments in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Norway, Iceland, Spain and Portugal to advise on the establishment of eye training courses. Thus many tens of thousands of ordinary people have benefited indirectly from his expertise. In the late 60’s Fletcher fostered his growing fascination with human colour perception becoming a founder member of the International Research Group of Colour Vision Deficiencies an international multi- disciplinary group of ophthalmologists, physiologists, physicists and optometrists which thrives today as the International Colour Vision Society. Fletcher’s elder daughter, Janet, had become fascinated by the colour blindness of a family friend in her teens and after degrees in Physiological Optics at City University was commissioned by the Health and Safety Executive to prepare guidelines which she revised at intervals over forty yearsa nd remains in current use. Fletcher and his daughter contributed joint and separate research studies to the biannual colour vision conferences held throughout Europe and finally published the first major European textbook on colour vision deficiencies together in 1986 which is widely consulted by clinicians and industrialists today.
Into retirement Fletcher was invited by Blackwell Publishing to Commission and co-authored definitive scholarly texts with former students on glaucoma, low vision aids, paediatric vision testing, binocular vision, contact lenses and colour vision. A novel feature to each volume were hand-drawn diagrams of apparatus he had designed and built in his garage for simple demonstrations which readers could undertake at home or in their consulting rooms. Most loved of all his foreign travels were over 70 trips he made to the emerging University at Kongsberg Norway, from the 1970’s to 2010, where Fletcher taught an entire generation of the first Norwegian optometrists and developed a great love for the people of Norway. He taught himself Norwegian, translating a text on ocular anatomy for his students, and later in his 80’s translated a substantial historical Norwegian text on the adventurous transport of Norway’s treasury to the UK in 1940 under cover of war retracing this journey with his daughter Janet.
Over a decade in the 1980’s he was invited to establish intensive courses in Rome, for older practising Italian opticians who attended from all over Italy several times a year for three years. Thus Fletcher introduced a hundreds of Italian opticians and optometrists to further clinical studies. Always happy to get involved in practical work he designed and built improvised equipment, lacking in Italy, for students to use. Lecturing with an interpreter soon gave way to marking written scripts in Italian with ease, building on the foundation of school Latin, for Fletcher was always enthusiastic to embark on a new challenge. His natural linguistic skills added to the enjoyment he gained by immersing himself in the culture of new colleagues and a great many of his former students became life-long friends as he attempted to correspond to them in their own language. He developed three editions of the City university Colour Vision test from 1980, still widely used worldwide to screen for professions and occupations where accurate colour recognition can be vital.
In 2000, well into retirement, Fletcher won a national competition to design a new lantern test to replace the Board of Trade model to examine and diagnose mariners, aircrew both military and civilian for colour vision deficiencies. This was marketed as the CAM lantern (Civilian Air Marine) and has found widespread use throughout Europe following extensive clinical trials. As a member of the Colour Group (GB), a subsection of the Physical Society for sixty years and a one-time Chairman Fletcher contributed to monthly meetings and larger Conferences. He held office as the President of the British Optical Association and also as an early President of the British Contact Lens Association in the 60’s and his wide knowledge of ocular pathology and optics was sought in both High and Crown tribunals and Court cases as an expert witness.
Emeritus Professor Robert Jackson Fletcher ‘fell asleep in Christ Jesus’ as he wished it to be known on August 5 and leaves daughter Janet, a retired Visual Scientist and Isobel, sometime editor and teacher of TEFL and English. His wife, Muriel who was born three weeks before him also predeceased him by three weeks aged 94 years.