Dr. Robert Jampel received his M.D. degree from the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University in New York in 1950. He completed residencies in ophthalmology and neurology at the University of Michigan, where he also obtained a Ph.D. degree in neuro-anatomy under the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Crosby. In 1958, he joined the ophthalmology faculty at the State University of New York. A decade later, Dr. Jampel became the neuro-ophthalmologist at the Institute of Ophthalmology, part of the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center.

Dr. Jampel was recruited from Columbia in 1970, appointed professor and chairman of the Department of Ophthalmology at WSU School of Medicine, and director of the Kresge Eye Institute. During his tenure, he recruited distinguished clinicians and scientists to become members of the faculty. Dr. Jampel planned and supervised the expansion of the Kresge Eye Institute. He managed the institute’s growth of patient care to 60,000 annual visits and 4,000 annual surgical procedures.

In 2000, Dr. Jampel received the prestigious honor of the establishment of the Robert S. Jampel, M.D., Ph.D., Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology to support a research scientist.

Dr. Jampel is currently chairman emeritus and professor of Ophthalmology at the Kresge Eye Institute. His current research is in the interaction between the ocular motor and the visual sensory systems.