Alexander R. Irvine, MD, was renowned for his clinical and academic leadership as head of the Retina Division at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). He died on September 14, 2024 at the age of 86.
“Alex Irvine, or Alex, as he was known to the residents, was the doctor I wanted to be—always the smartest, most curious, and most humble doctor in the room,” recalls ASRS President J. Michael Jumper, MD, FASRS. “His passion for learning and clinical excellence was infectious and continues to impact the Department of Ophthalmology at UCSF and those who were fortunate enough to train with him.”
“Alex Irvine significantly influenced so many UCSF residents to pursue careers in retina—including me,” says UCSF Ophthalmology Department Chair and Distinguished Professor Jacque Duncan, MD. “He always asked, ‘What is this patient trying to teach me so I can take better care of patients going forward?’ To this day, when I’m not sure what the right course of action to take for a patient is, I will ask myself, ‘What would Alex Irvine do?’ And whenever I do, I always arrive at the right decision to deliver the best care for my patients.”
"Dr. Irvine’s passing was 'a huge loss for us all,'” says Daniel M. Schwartz, MD, of UCSF. “He was a role model, consummate clinician, and one of the most decent people I’ve ever met.”
“Dr. Irvine was passionate about patient care,” recalls Sharon Solomon, MD, Wilmer Eye Institute, Johns Hopkins University. “I remember rounding with him at the bedside of inpatients after busy clinic days. He was equally passionate about training residents. “My fondest clinic memories at UCSF are of Dr. Irvine flinging open the wooden shutter in the wall that separated his exam room from the residents’ exam room,” Dr. Solomon adds. “I remember him yelling to hurry and come see the macular pathology while he had the contact lens on the eye. He was fond of saying, ‘You see it. You just don’t recognize it.’ Under Dr. Irvine’s mentorship, I learned to recognize what I was seeing in the retina and to become expert at it. Dr. Irvine absolutely influenced my decision to pursue a rewarding career in retina and academic medicine. I was privileged to have trained at UCSF under him.”