SAN FRANCISCO – Michael W. Brennan, MD will become the new president of the American Academy of Ophthalmology on Jan. 1, 2009. He takes over from departing president David W. Parke II, MD who completed his term at the end of December, 2008. Dr. Brennan is currently in private practice at the Alamance Eye Center in Burlington, N.C. 

“This is an exciting time for ophthalmology,” said Dr. Brennan. “The profession is facing many challenges and opportunities.  I look forward to serving the Academy and its members in the coming year.”

“Dr. Brennan brings outstanding experience and great enthusiasm to the Academy and the profession,” said H. Dunbar Hoskins Jr., MD, executive vice president of the Academy. “His commitment to the profession and to public service will serve the Academy and its members well.  He will make a superb president.”

Dr. Brennan has held numerous positions at the Academy. He served on the Academy’s Committee of Secretaries as secretary for State Affairs from 1997 to 2004 and as the Academy's international envoy from 2004 to 2007. He has served on the Membership Advisory Committee, Awards Committee and Task Force on Federal Health Manpower.

Dr. Brennan received his medical degree from the University of Texas in 1978. He completed his internship in 1979 and residency in 1982 at Brooke Army Medical Center, Fort Sam Houston, Texas. He is chairman of the Medical Alliance for Iraq, an unincorporated volunteer physician group, and a member of the Leadership Council of the North Carolina Medical Society. He is the past president of the Alamance/Caswell Medical Society and the North Carolina Society of Eye Physicians and Surgeons. 

###

About the American Academy of Ophthalmology

AAO is the world's largest association of eye physicians and surgeons—Eye M.D.s—with more than 27,000 members worldwide.  Eye health care is provided by the three “O’s” – opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. It is the ophthalmologist, or Eye M.D., who can treat it all: eye diseases and injuries, and perform eye surgery. To find an Eye M.D. in your area, visit the Academy's Web site at www.aao.org