Professor Clement Tham, Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, is elected to be one of the Chairs of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI), in recognition of his continuous outstanding contributions to ophthalmology, at the recently concluded General Assembly of the AOI in Singapore on 2 March, 2017.

The Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis is a university-centered international organization committed to excellence in education, research and culturally appropriate medical services to preserve and restore vision for people of the world. Active membership is limited to 100 Chairs, each assigned a roman numeral from I to C. AOI Members are formally nominated and elected by the membership to fill a specific Chair once it becomes vacant. Currently, the Active and Emeritus membership of AOI represents 33 countries around the world. Professor Tham is the third ophthalmologist from Hong Kong to become Chairs of the AOI, following in the footsteps of Professor Mark Tso, Founding Chairman of the CUHK Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, and Professor Dennis Lam, the second Chairman of the same Department.

Professor Tham has also been re-elected to his second 4-year term (2017 – 2021) as the Secretary General of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, which is the largest supranational organization committed to promoting the science and art of ophthalmology among all people and nations of the Asia-Pacific region. The APAO has currently 19 national society members and 6 subspecialty society members.

While in Singapore, Professor Tham was elected the Treasurer of the International Council of Ophthalmology, the term of which will officially commence in June 2018. The ICO has more than 140 member societies from around the world. Ongoing ICO programs include the World Ophthalmology Congress (WOC – of which Professor Tham is the Chair of the Scientific Program Committee in both 2016 and 2018), the ICO Exams and Fellowships, the ‘Teaching the Teachers’ program, the ICO Guidelines, as well as the establishment of a new eye hospital in Cameroon.

Congratulations to Professor Tham!