It is with great sadness that we bid farewell to George Mertz. A giant of the profession and a kind, generous and gentle human being, George"s humanity and concern for others permeated his whole existence.

George William Mertz was born on the 2nd of July, 1946, in the small town of Fort Scott, Kansas. He was the eldest son of George Mertz Senior, who worked on the railroad, and Adeline, who spent her time looking after the family of George Jr., Eileen and Jim who all arrived in the space of a short 5 years. George grew up like any Midwestern kid, went to school, played football and worked on the family farm when his dad moved into farming.

George knew that he was not destined for the farm and set about studying at Kansas University, where he graduated in 1969 with a Bachelor of Science degree in petroleum engineering. He was then employed by the Standard Oil Company of California (Chevron) for nearly three years but did not really like the oil business.

Optometry beckoned and George received his Bachelor of Science in Optometry (Honors) in 1974 and Doctor of Optometry from the University of California at Berkeley in 1975. He spent the next 27 years in a profession he loved with an immense passion.

After graduating, George began his mission to work at the executive management level for just about every contact lens company. He started with Bausch & Lomb in the Soflens Division as a research optometrist; he was Director of Optometric Research when he left four years later.

At this point he turned down the opportunity to undertake a Ph.D. in physiological optics at the University of California to pursue a different career path.

In 1980, he traveled to Australia, to the Cornea and Contact Lens Research Unit at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, to continue his landmark research on the ocular physiological response to extended wear soft contact lenses. At B&L, George conducted the first studies of overnight corneal edema in a group of non-contact lens wearers. This work formed the basis of the Mertz-McNally-Holden partnership that went on to write the recipe for the current high-Dk silicone hydrogel contact lenses.

I was privileged to work with George in these studies. These were exciting times and it was a great pleasure to have George as a colleague and an inspiration.

George returned to the United States as Vice President of Clinical Research at CIBA Vision, and after 3 years moved to VisionTech as Executive Vice President of Science and Technology and then President (1983-1985). During this time, he was appointed to the O.D.s in Industry Committee of the American Optometric Association Contact Lens Section (1983). Then, in 1985, he was appointed to the ophthalmic community advisory committee of the American Academy of Optometry.

Next, he formed GW Mertz & Associates, a contact lens consulting company where he was President. He was appointed to the Working Group on Contact Lens Use Under Adverse Conditions by the Committee on Vision, National Research Council, National Academy of Sciences (1988). In 1990, George took up a position as Manager of Clinical Research and Product Analysis at Vistakon for 3 years and then was Director of Academic Affairs until his sad and unexpected death.

Throughout his life, George"s work was recognized with a number of awards and appointments. He received an Award of Merit by the American Optometric Student Association Board of Trustees (AOSA) in 1996. In 1997 George was appointed by the AAO Executive Council as a member of the American Optometric Foundation Board of Directors and was awarded research diplomate status by the Cornea and Contact Lens Section of the AAO. He was accepted as a fellow of IACLE in 1998.

His outstanding generosity and ongoing commitment to optometry was recognized by a special award and by the President"s Circle award by the AAO in 1998. He also was elected President of the American Optometric Foundation in 2001.

On Sunday, the 6th of October, 2002, about 150 of George Mertz"s friends gathered in Jacksonville, at Jill Mertz"s invitation, to say goodbye to our great mate.

I was proud to be one of the speakers. George was with us on everything--fighting for our research and education programs through CRCERT, CCLRU and IACLE. He was a wonderful supporter of the ISCLR and of Vistakon working with CCLRU and CRCERT. He did not do this just because he liked us, but because he believed in us.

Not just us of course; he also fought for education programs and research fellowships for the schools and colleges of optometry of North America and through his American Optometric Foundation.

The people that spoke of his commitment, integrity and contribution included Sheila Hickson, Howard Purcell, his brother Jim and sister Eileen, Tony Adams, Des and Richard Nason, Stan Yamane, Peter Bergenske and his wonderful wife, Jill.

It was a sad and moving celebration of his life. He will be sorely missed but never forgotten. We are thankful that George touched our lives. To all of us George was someone special.

Goodbye, George.

Dr. Holden (b.holden@crceret.unsw.edu.au) is director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Eye Research and Technology, whose organization, as part of Australian government policy, receives funds from the commercial exploitation of its research, including both contact lenses and refractive surgery.