ICO Notes:
In Memory of Professor Yasuo Tano

Dear ICO Members and Friends,

Yasuo Tano, MD

It is with deep regret that I send word that our friend and colleague, Professor Yasuo Tano, has passed away. He died suddenly in Osaka on Saturday, January 31. This is an unbelievable shock to us all and a tremendous loss to his family as well as to Japanese and international ophthalmology.

Dr. Yasuo Tano was the Professor and Chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at Osaka University Medical School and the Vice President of the Osaka University Hospital, Osaka, Japan. He was President of the Club Jules Gonin, the President of the Asia-Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology, Immediate Past President of the Japanese Ophthalmological Society, and has acted as the Treasurer of the ICO since 2006.

Yasuo was a marvelous man and a close friend to many around the world. He was an international leader, revered and respected. We have received many messages about Yasuo from his colleagues and I would like to share a few of them with you here.

• [Professor Tano] was a great man, bringing the future world congress to Japan, being extremely influential worldwide, while being a loving family man, and a dear, dear father. He died at much too young an age. The world of ophthalmologists very much regrets the news of his death.
  - Martine Jager, MD, Immediate Past President, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)
  
  
• Yasuo looked so energetic and full of life. Needless to say, he will be sorely missed by all of us. His role and contribution to the world of ophthalmology in general, and the ICO in particular, was a great inspiration and extremely beneficial to our unique group. What a tragic loss! I send my sincere condolences to his entire family.
  - Akef El-Maghraby, MD, ICO Vice President
  
  
• I have been a professional colleague of [Yasuo's] for many years. During this time, I came to know and truly admire his abilities as a clinician and ophthalmic surgeon, as a true leader and collaborator in meetings of international organizations at the highest level, but more importantly, I came to hold him in the highest regard as a friend and as a very kind and loving husband, father, and grandfather. His unexpected death has shocked us all. He was so young in heart and body, so full of energy and enthusiasm, compassion and consideration.
  - Professor Hugh R. Taylor, AC, ICO Director for Research
  
  
• Yasuo was always prepared to help anyone, anywhere, in any way he could and his contribution to ophthalmology was enormous. He will be greatly missed.
  - Peter G. Watson, MD, President, Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI)

A funeral vigil, known as Tsuya in Japan, is scheduled on Wednesday, February 4, with a funeral service on Thursday, February 5. Both private events will be held in Osaka, Japan.

A public Memorial Farewell Assembly for Professor Tano will be held on either March 8 or March 15, by the Department of Ophthalmology at Osaka University and its Alumni Association. You may contact Dr. Motohiro Kamei, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Osaka University at mkamei@ophthal.med.osaka-u.ac.jp or Dr. Nobuyuki Ohguro, Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, Osaka University at nohguro@ophthal.med.osaka-u.ac.jp, for more information.

Professor Tano's passing is huge personal and professional loss. Let us remember him through his legacy of major contributions to his retina subspecialty, to international ophthalmology and to the countless friends he made around the world.

Respectfully yours,

Bruce Spivey, MD, MS, MEd
President, International Council of Ophthalmology

945 Green Street
San Francisco, CA, 94133, USA
Fax: (1-415) 409-8403
spivey@icoph.org
www.icoph.org