Vision Excellence Awards: Brien Holden

Professor Brien Holden OAM was a global leader in eye care and vision research, an internationally renowned and awarded scientist and humanitarian. He was the founder-CEO of Brien Holden Vision Institute, and a Professor at the School of Optometry and Vision Science at UNSW Australia.

Professor Holden was known as the most influential optometrist of our generation. His career was spent inspiring scientists and health care professionals around the world with his dream of ‘vision for everyone, everywhere’.His immense contributions to vision research and his passion for eliminating avoidable blindness and vision impairment always went hand in hand. He also helped redefine the role of optometry in public health eye care, and bringing those skills to many countries around the world. He played a crucial role in ensuring that VISION 2020 was far more inclusive and grounded in evidence.