The J Lawton Smith Award is given out each year at the COS Annual Meeting to an ophthalmologist who has shown a lifetime commmitment to serving the Lord through their personal practice of excellence in medicine, academic influence, and/or missionary dedication. These outstanding ophthalmologists have demonstrated "practicing first class medicine in the spirit of love", a phrase introduced by Dr. Brad Farris to describe J Lawton Smith, one of the COS Founders.
The previous recipients are:
Year | Name | City, State |
1992 | Ronald L. Seely, MD | Tampa, FL |
1993 | Hollis W. Clark, MD | Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
1994 | Noval E. Christy, MD | Duarte, CA |
1995 | David G. Haney, MD | McAllen, TX |
1996 | Van Joffrion, MD | Baton Rouge, LA |
1997 | Margaret Brand, MD | Seattle, WA |
1998 | Jack C. Cooper, MD | Dallas, TX |
1999 | J. James Rowsey, MD | Tampa, FL |
2000 | Curtis D. Benton, Jr, MD | Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
2001 | Lowell Gess, MD | Alexandria, MN |
2002 | Glen Brindley, MD and Bill Rowlett, MD | Temple, TX ; Hopkinsville, KY |
2003 | Frank Winter, MD | La Jolla, CA |
2004 | J. Donald M. Gass, MD | Nashville, TN |
2005 | Roger DeHaven, MD | Tyler, TX |
2006 | John Costin, MD | Lorraine, OH |
2007 | Bill Jarrett, MD | Atlanta, GA |
2008 | Juan Batlle, MD | Santo Domingo, Dom. Rep. |
2009 | William Conrad, MD | Warner Robins, GA |
2010 | James P Gills, MD | Tarpon Springs, FL |
2011 | Robert Serros, MD | Orlando, FL |
2012 | Paul Palmberg, MD | Miami, FL |
2013 | Brad Farris, MD | Oklahoma City, OK |
2014 | Enoch Tsai, MD | Aiken, SC |
2015 | Bert Bowden, MD | Huntsville, AL |
2016 | George Chin, MD | Seattle, WA |
2017 | Kyle Smith, MD | Temple, TX |
2018 | Dan Gold, MD | Palestine, TX |
2019 | Glenn Strauss, MD | Tyler, TX |
2020 | Jono Pons, MD | Siteki, Eswatini |