Barrett George Haik MD, FACS

1951 - 2016

Barrett George Haik, MD, FACS, passed away unexpectedly but peacefully in his sleep at his boat house in New Orleans, Louisiana, on Friday, July 22, 2016. Dr. Haik was born in New Orleans on September 8, 1951, the son of George M. Haik, MD, and Isabelle Saloom Haik. He graduated from Metairie Park Country Day High School and Centenary College, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in Biology. Dr Haik earned his medical degree and his PhD in Anatomy from the Louisiana State University Medical School. After residency at New York's Edward S. Harkness Eye Institute at the Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, Dr. Haik joined Cornell University and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. In 1986, he joined Tulane University in New Orleans as a professor of Ophthalmology. He was also made program director and medical director of the Eye, Ear, Nose and Throat Hospital, where he trained residents from Tulane, LSU and the Ochsner Foundation. In 1991, Dr. Haik was named the George M. Haik, Sr., MD - St. Giles Foundation Professor of Pediatric and Adult Ophthalmic Oncology, Tulane's first endowed chair in Ophthalmology. In 1995, Dr. Haik was recruited to be Chairman of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center Department of Ophthalmology. Through his remarkable leadership, Dr. Haik transformed the Department of Ophthalmology from a small office with four academic faculty members into the acclaimed Hamilton Eye Institute, a world-class eye center that is home to more than 40 academic faculty members and lauded among the top ten eye programs in the United States. After 17 years as chairman, Dr. Haik took on the new role of director of the Hamilton Eye Institute. A prolific fundraiser, Dr. Haik raised more than $100 million dollars for the Hamilton Eye Institute and its programs. In addition to founding HEI, he also built the ophthalmic oncology service at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, saving the lives of children with ophthalmic tumors. Dr. Haik made tremendous strides in the fight against retinoblastoma, a pediatric eye cancer that once took the lives of 90% of children in developing nations who were afflicted with it. Through Dr. Haik's international outreach initiatives to establish centers of excellence throughout the developing world, that mortality rate is now under 10% in many countries. Dr. Haik was a member of numerous prestigious medical and scientific societies. He was past president of the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology, the American Eye Study Club, and the American Society of Ophthalmic Ultrasound; a fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American College of Surgeons (for which he also served three consecutive three-year terms on the Board of Regents), and the New York Academy of Medicine; and a member of the American Ophthalmological Society. Dr. Haik authored or co-authored more than 160 peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters and abstracts. He was internationally renowned as an expert in the diagnosis and management of ophthalmic tumors and received numerous grants for his research. An accomplished and enlightening educator, Dr. Haik gave hundreds of presentations in both national and international forums. He received a Healthcare Heroes Lifetime Achievement Award from the Memphis Business Journal and a Life Achievement Honor Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology. Dr. Haik's true passion was helping people. Semi annually he traveled to Panama to operate field clinics to help the poorest of poor. He felt that identifying retinoblastoma in children was paramount to saving their lives. He lectured around the world and traveled to the Middle East, Asia, and South America to teach physicians how to identify and treat pediatric ocular cancers. Dr. Haik served on the Board of the Eye Foundation of America, founded by his father and based in New Orleans. When not caring for patients or teaching others, Dr. Haik enjoyed the company of his friends and spent his spare time golfing, fishing in Venice or enjoying time with his bloodhound Maddie, who died just a few months ago. He is preceded in death by his parents, Dr. George M. Haik, Sr., and Isabelle Saloom Haik. He is survived by son Christopher Barrett Haik (Sofia) and Claire Marie Haik (James Anthony Schakleford). He is also survived by brother Dr. George M. Haik, Jr.; brother Dr. Kenneth Haik (Diana); and sister Suzanne Terrell (Lee); his close companion Blanca Phillips, her family as well as many other loving members of his extended family. He will be missed by his many patients, colleagues, students and friends throughout the world. Services will be held at Lake Lawn Metairie Funeral Home on Wednesday, July 27 2016, with a visitation at 12:00 p.m. and service at 3:00 p.m. An event honoring and celebrating his life and accomplishments is also planned in Memphis, Tennessee, at a date and location to be determined. Memphis, Tennessee, at a date and location to be determined. In lieu of flowers, donations may be sent to Children's Mission Fund, c/o EFA, P.O Box 9427 Metairie, Louisiana 70055-9427 or Barrett Haik Memorial St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105.