Richard L. Lindstrom MD is Founder and Attending Surgeon Emeritus at Minnesota Eye Consultants, Senior Lecturer and Trustee Emeritus of the University of Minnesota Foundation and Visiting Professor at the UC Irvine Gavin Herbert Eye Institute. He is a board-certified ophthalmologist and internationally recognized leader in cornea, cataract, refractive surgery, glaucoma, laser surgery, innovation, investment, and the business of ophthalmology. He has been at the forefront of ophthalmology's evolutionary changes throughout his 52-year career in medicine as a clinician, leader, researcher, teacher, inventor, writer, industry consultant and highly acclaimed physician and surgeon.
After graduating Magna Cum Laude with a B.A. from the College of Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, Dr. Lindstrom completed his B.S. and doctorate degree in medicine at The University of Minnesota in 1972. He then completed a one-year internal medicine internship at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Next, he completed a 3-year Residency in Ophthalmology and a 1-year Fellowship in Cornea/External Disease at the University of Minnesota and Affiliated Hospitals. He then extended his training with an Anterior Segment Surgery Fellowship at Mary Shiels Eye Hospital in Dallas, Texas for 6 months followed by a 6-month Heed Foundation Sponsored Fellowship in Glaucoma at The University of Utah Department of Ophthalmology in Salt Lake City, Utah. After two years of private practice in Dallas, Texas with William S. Harris MD at Ophthalmology Center, in 1980 Dr. Lindstrom returned to the University of Minnesota, where he spent ten years on the faculty of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, the last two as a Full Professor and the Harold G. Scheie Research Chair. For ten years he also served as Chief of Ophthalmology at the Minneapolis Veterans Administration Hospital. He continues as a Senior Lecturer and Trustee Emeritus of the University of Minnesota Foundation.
Dr. Lindstrom entered private practice in 1989 and led the growth and expansion of Minnesota Eye Consultants, serving as Managing Partner for 15 years and Partner and Attending Surgeon for 32 years. In 2017 the practice was acquired by the Private Equity firm Unifeye Vision Partners (UVP) and Dr. Lindstrom was appointed to the UVP Board of Directors. He has served as Associate and Chief Global Medical Editor of the USA and International Editions of Ocular Surgery News for 40 years, whose written and digital editions reach over 80,000 ophthalmologists worldwide.
Dr. Lindstrom was elected President of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery for the 2007-2008 term and continues to serve on the ASCRS Executive Committee. He served as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ASCRS Foundation for six years. He served as President of the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology in 1993-1994, was elected President of the International Intraocular Implant Club for 2002 to 2004 and was president of the International Refractive Surgery Club in 2006 2008.
Dr. Lindstrom has served as the Chairman and CEO of Lindstrom Restoration, a three-generation family Construction business founded by his father since 1990.His son Michael today is President and COO. He and his wife Jaci are active in philanthropy and have donated funds supporting the University of Minnesota Department of Ophthalmology, the University of Minnesota Medical School Deans Scholar Fund, the Eye Bank Association of America, the University of Minnesota Tennis Team, SightPath Eye Bank, ASCRS, ECLA and many others.
Dr. Lindstrom has been awarded 45 patents in ophthalmology and has developed corneal preservation solutions, intraocular lenses, drugs and devices that are used daily in clinical practice globally. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of Lindstrom Restoration, Minnesota Eye Consultants, UVP, Ocular Therapeutix, Lensar, Aurion, Surface Ophthalmics, Foresight#6, Equinox, Lentechs, Corneagen, Theroptix, TearClear, Sydnexis, LayerBio, TearOptix, Lightfield Medical, and Acquea. He is a member of the Investment Committee at Visionary Ventures and a Founder of Flying L Venture Partners.
Prior Board service for acquired companies includes Eyeonics, Encore, Harrow, WaveTec, Iantech, Advanced Vision Science, Midwest Surgical Services, Laserboyz, Citation Ventures, LVCI, TLCVision, Sightpath, Onpoint Medical Diagnostics, Vision 21, Occulogix, Interfeen, Acufocus, MyEyeStore, Kedallion, Combangio, MD Backline, and Wavetec. Current not for profit Board service includes The University of Minnesota Foundation, Inner City Tennis, The Holland Foundation, The Minnesota Eye Consultants Foundation, and The ASCRS Foundation.
A frequent lecturer throughout the world on cornea, cataract, glaucoma, laser surgery, refractive surgery, innovation and the business of ophthalmology, he has presented over 40 named lectures and keynote speeches before professional societies in the U.S. and abroad, including the Binkhorst, Kelman Innovator and Steinert Lecture at the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery, The American Academy of Ophthalmology Kelman, Barraquer and Lans Lectures, and The Cornea Society Castroviejo Lecture. He received the Glaucoma 360 Accelerator Award. He is a recipient of the Eye Bank Association of America Paton and NACT awards. Select International named lectures include the Blumenthal Memorial Lecture in Jerusalem, Israel, the Benedetto Strampelli Medal Lecture in Rome, Italy, the Bjerrum Medal Lecture in Copenhagen, Denmark, the UKISCRS Choyce Medal Lecture in London England, the Albrecht Von GRAFE-Vorlesung Innovator’s Lecture in Nuremberg, Germany, and The International Intraocular Implant Society Medal Lecture in Paris, France. In 2019 he was the first physician inducted into the Scandinavian-American Hall of Fame. In 1998, the Eye and Contact Lens Association initiated the Richard L. Lindstrom MD Surgeon Lecture at its annual meeting. In 2021, the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery initiated the Richard L. Lindstrom MD Symposium and Lindstrom Medal Lecture at its annual meeting each year on Sunday. In 2022, The Wyanoke Group initiated the annual Lindstrom Leadership Lecture at Hawaii Eye and Retina. The former participants in the Minnesota Eye Consultants Corneal Fellowship Program now number over 80 and are named Lindstrom Fellows.
Dr. Lindstrom serves on several journal editorial boards, including the Journal of Cataract and Refractive Surgery and the Journal of Refractive Surgery. He is the Honorary Editor-in-Chief of the U.S./Chinese Journal of Ophthalmology. He has co-edited ten books, written many book chapters and published over 400 papers in peer reviewed journals. His professional affiliations are extensive and include the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Society of Refractive Surgery, the Cornea Society, The Eye Bank Association of America, The International Society for Refractive Surgery, The International Intraocular Implant Club, the Eye and Contact Lens Association, and the Minnesota Academy of Ophthalmology.
He is the recipient of numerous awards for distinguished service by national and international ophthalmology associations, including two Lifetime Achievement Awards from the International Society of Refractive Surgery of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, The Harold S. Diehl and Trustees Society Award from his alma mater The University of Minnesota, and the Appleton Award from the Minnesota Academy of Ophthalmology. He has been elected repeatedly to Best Doctors in America. He was named the fourth most influential ophthalmologist in the world in the inaugural “The Ophthalmologist” power list in 2015 and has been renominated every year to date. Dr. Lindstrom lives in his hometown of Wayzata, Minnesota on the shores of Lake Minnetonka with his wife Jaci. Their two children and five grandchildren live nearby. He and his wife have a second home in Irvine, California. He enjoys an active life including tennis, golf, boating, upland bird hunting, walking the dog and reading historical fiction when time allows.