Karl Golnik, MD, Appointed Chair of Ophthalmology

Karl Golnik, MD, has been appointed chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, pending approval by the UC Board of Trustees. Dr. Golnik has served as interim chair of the department since June 25, 2014.

Golnik was appointed an assistant professor at the College of Medicine in 1995 and for the last 10 years has held appointments as a professor in the departments of Ophthalmology, Neurology and Rehabilitation Medicine and Neurosurgery. Golnik was appointed chief of ophthalmology at the Cincinnati Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in 2013. He has been a partner at Cincinnati Eye Institute (CEI) since 1994 and also serves on CEI’s Board of Directors. Golnik also is an active member of the North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society, American Academy of Ophthalmology, American Board of Ophthalmology and Association of University Professors in Ophthalmology. 

Golnik is immediate past president of the Joint Commission on Allied Health Personnel in Ophthalmology and is director for education and a board member of the International Council of Ophthalmology. He is credited with more than 630 scientific and medical presentations in the last 25 years, given over 300 invited lectures in more than 45 countries and has authored over 135 publications in the fields of neuro-ophthalmology and medical education. 

While interim chair, Golnik received the Parker Palmer Courage to Teach Award from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), was inducted into the Gold Humanism Society, received the Asia Pacific Academy of Ophthalmology Achievement Award and was selected to be on the U.S. Department of Education's National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation. He also formed a translational research group to foster collaboration between UC, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center and the CEI.

Golnik received his undergraduate degree from Amherst College and his medical degree from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed his postgraduate training at the Greater Baltimore Medical Center, University of Virginia and the Johns Hopkins Wilmer Eye Institute, where he was a fellow in neuro-ophthalmology. In 2003 he received a master’s in education from the University of Cincinnati and became the Ophthalmology Department’s vice chair and also directed the residency program.