Elizabeth P. Olmsted Ross, MD ’39

Elizabeth P. Olmsted Ross, MD ’39, is a leading advocate for the blind and visually impaired and an aviation pioneer.

She was admitted to the UB Medical School after only two years of pre-medical studies and was the youngest person to be named diplomate of the American Board of Ophthalmology.

While still in medical school, Olmsted Ross began flying planes as a hobby, later becoming one of the first female pilots in Western New York. She served as a medical officer and flight instructor, obtaining the rank of lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol and serving as a member of The Ninety-Nines, the international organization of female pilots during World War II.

As an intern, Olmsted Ross pursued a career in aviation medicine, which at the time was founded on eye tests. She enjoyed the training in ophthalmology and decided to pursue residency in the field. At the time, however, women were rarely admitted to ophthalmology since it was considered a surgical specialty, a field dominated by men. This changed during World War II, when hospitals needed women to fill the vacancies created by male physicians drafted into war. Olmsted Ross completed her residency training in Chicago at the Illinois Eye and Ear Infirmary.

The first female ophthalmologist in Buffalo, Olmsted Ross opened a private practice in 1944. She subcontracted with local industries, beginning a long career of patient care, advocacy and research. She initiated safety goggle programs and industrial lighting standards at Curtiss Wright Corporation. While working to fit engineers at Cornell Aeronautical Laboratory with protective eyewear, she listened to their concerns about a new technology called radar. She spent the next three years investigating the ocular effects of radar exposure, conducting studies at Tufts University, Griffiths Air Force Base, Cape Canaveral and aboard the RCA radar ship.

During the 1950s and 1960s, Olmsted Ross established an accredited ophthalmology program at Deaconess Hospital and led efforts to introduce large-print books to area libraries.

Olmsted Ross was associated with the Blind Association of Western New York from the time she began her practice. In 1999, she made the agency a gift of $1 million to renovate the facility, which now bears her name: The Elizabeth Pierce Olmsted, M.D. Center for the Visually Impaired. Today, people from around the world come to center for care and skills training.

In 2003, Olmsted Ross offered a $3 million challenge grant to UB, which led to the establishment of the Ira G. Ross Eye Institute, the research and teaching affiliate of the Center, located on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

In 2002, Olmsted Ross was inducted into the Western New York Women’s Hall of Fame and in 2005, she received UB’s prestigious Samuel P. Capen Award.