Glaucoma service added as a sub-specialty training program.
Full time faculty recruitment began with the appointment of Ronald Engerman, PhD. Dr. Engerman initiated basic research in a one-room lab in the ophthalmology service, where he namely studied retinal vascular pathology, which later complemented the first major clinical research on the natural course of diabetic retinopathy by Professor Matthew D. Davis.
Davis and Engerman also begin competing for extramural research funds, a tradition that continues to this day, that place the department in the upper 10% of annual National Eye Institute research funding.