The William F. Norris and George E. de Schweinitz Professorship of Ophthalmology

George E. de Schweinitz

The Professorship was established in 1945 under the terms of the will of George E. de Schweinitz, MD (1858–1938) to honor his colleague, William Fisher Norris, MD (1838–1901), an esteemed pioneer in the field of ophthalmology. Both were graduates of the Perelman School of Medicine, Dr. Norris in 1861 and Dr. de Schweinitz in 1881.

Dr. Norris served with distinction as a surgeon for the U.S. Army during the Civil War. In 1873, Dr. Norris joined the staff of the Perelman School of Medicine as a Clinical Professor of Diseases of the Eye and is credited with founding and developing the School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology, serving as its chairman until 1901. In addition to many journal publications, he was the author of one of the first nationally recognized textbooks in ophthalmology and edited the four-volume System of Diseases of the Eye.

In 1902, Dr. de Schweinitz succeeded Dr. Norris as Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology, remaining in that capacity until 1929 when he became Professor Emeritus. Before specializing in ophthalmology, he practiced at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and was Prosector of Anatomy for Joseph Leidy, MD. During World War I, Dr. de Schweinitz was appointed to the Council of Defense as a Major and, in 1922, became Brigadier General in the Medical Reserve Corps. He often treated President Woodrow Wilson.


 

bunyaCurrent Chairholder
Vatinee Y. Bunya, MD, MSCE

Vatinee Y. Bunya, MD, MSCE is the William F. Norris and George E. de Schweinitz Associate Professor in Ophthalmology at the Perelman School of Medicine. She is also Co-Director of the Penn Dry Eye and Ocular Surface Center. Dr. Bunya cares for patients with dry eye, Sjogren's disease, and other disorders that affect the ocular surface. She has also been the Principal Investigator for several dry eye clinical trials and has received grant funding from the National Eye Institute to support her research. She currently is working to develop better ways to measure dry eye and to screen patients for Sjogren's disease. 

Dr. Bunya attended Princeton University before obtaining her medical degree at the University of Pennsylvania. She went on to complete her residency and cornea fellowship at Wills Eye Hospital. She later obtained her Master of Science in clinical epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania in 2019. 

Previous Chairholders

  • Harold B. Scheie, MD 1960–1975
  • Myron Yanoff, MD 1977–1986
  • Stuart L. Fine, MD 1991–2009
  • Joan O'Brien, MD