Dr. Gregory L. Skuta, President and Chief Executive Officer of the nationally recognized Dean McGee Eye Institute (DMEI) in Oklahoma City, has been elected as President-Elect of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO). The AAO is the world’s largest association of ophthalmologists – medical doctors specializing in comprehensive medical and surgical eye care. Dr. Skuta will serve as President-Elect in 2013 and as President in 2014.

A respected ophthalmologist, clinical researcher, educator and administrator, Dr. Skuta has led the DMEI as President and CEO since 2009. Also the Edward L. Gaylord Professor and Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology in the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine, Dr. Skuta presided over the completion of the 78,000-square-foot $46 million expansion of the DMEI. The DMEI has more than 300 faculty and staff and consistently ranks among the top eye institutes in the nation for funding from the National Institutes of Health and Research to Prevent Blindness.

“Dr. Skuta’s election as President of the American Academy of Ophthalmology was overwhelming,” said Dr. David Parke, AAO Executive Vice President and CEO. Dr. Parke led the DMEI from 1992 to 2009 prior his appointment as CEO of the AAO. “For the past six years he has served as its Senior Secretary for Clinical Education, leading its global continuing medical education programs. He is well-known and respected as an educator, a clinician, and a clinical investigator. Equally important, he is recognized as a critical and strategic thinker and as a fine man. Oklahomans should be extraordinarily proud to have someone of his caliber as leader of the Dean McGee Eye Institute and now as elected President of the largest ophthalmology society in the world with over 32,000 members.”

“I am personally honored and humbled by this special opportunity to serve my colleagues and profession as well as patients from throughout the world who benefit from the care delivered by well-trained ophthalmologists,” noted Dr. Skuta. “I am a dedicated advocate of the AAO’s mission to advance lifelong learning and ensure that the public receives the best eye care possible. The AAO’s mission is consistent with our mission at the Dean McGee Eye Institute, which has resulted in historic global initiatives with countries such as China to bring quality eye care to developing regions of the world.”

“The election of Dr. Skuta as the future President of the most respected and prestigious medical organization in the world for ophthalmologists by his peers speaks volumes about the ever growing national prominence of the Dean McGee Eye Institute and the University of Oklahoma’s College of Medicine,” said James R. Tolbert III, Chairman of the Dean McGee Eye Institute’s Board of Trustees. “We appreciate the leadership of Dr. Skuta, and we congratulate him on his election as President-Elect of the Academy.”

For the past six years, Dr. Skuta has served the AAO as Senior Secretary for Clinical Education and as a member of its Board of Trustees, Executive Committee and Committee of Secretaries. He also has served on the Nominating Committee and Awards Committee. Dr. Skuta is a past President of the American Glaucoma Society and a past Director and Senior Examiner for the American Board of Ophthalmology. In addition, he is a past member of the Board of Governors of the World Glaucoma Association and past chair of the American Glaucoma Society’s Program Committee.

With research expertise in wound healing after glaucoma filtering surgery and glaucoma clinical trials, Dr. Skuta served as a principal investigator for such high-profile studies as the National Eye Institute-sponsored Advanced Glaucoma Intervention Study and Collaborative Initial Glaucoma Treatment Study and on the Data and Safety Monitoring Committee for the Ocular Hypertension Treatment Study. He has contributed to more than 100 publications, book chapters and educational products and has delivered more than 200 lectures and presentations both nationally and internationally. Dr. Skuta also serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Glaucoma and appears in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in the World and among The Best Doctors in America, America’s Top Ophthalmologists, and Oklahoma Super Doctors.

Dr. Skuta is a native of Illinois and earned his undergraduate degree (Phi Beta Kappa) from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and his medical degree (Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society) from the University of Illinois College of Medicine. His completed an internship at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor, Michigan and his residency training at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, serving as Chief Resident. Dr. Skuta pursued glaucoma fellowship training at the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute/University of Miami in Miami, Florida. He served on the faculty at the University of Michigan’s W.K. Kellogg Eye Center from 1987 to 1992.

Dr. Skuta joined the faculty at the Dean McGee Eye Institute in 1992. From 1998 to 2009, he was the James P. Luton Clinical Professor in the Department of Ophthalmology and succeeded Dr. David W. Parke II as President and CEO of the Institute in 2009.

He and his wife Anne, who is Director of Clinical Operations and Education for the Nazih Zuhdi Transplant Institute at INTEGRIS Baptist Medical Center in Oklahoma City, have three adult children and make Edmond, Oklahoma their home. They are members of the United Methodist Church of the Servant in Oklahoma City.