The Tulane University School of Medicine was founded in 1834 as the Medical College of Louisiana. The school was composed of seven professors teaching the disciplines of Anatomy and Physiology, Chemistry, Materia Medica, Principles and Practice of Medicine, Surgery, Obstetrics, and Diseases of Women and Children. Ophthalmology was not taught as a distinct specialty until 1867.
Specialties were beginning to emerge in American medicine by the 1850s. The American Ophthalmological Society (AOS) was founded in 1864. In order to teach the new specialties, Tulane established the faculty position of Lecturer.
The first Tulane Lecturer was an ophthalmologist, Dr. Bolling A. Pope, who served from 1867-68. Thus, ophthalmology was the first specialty to be taught at Tulane. Dr. Pope later became the first Vice-President of the new Section on Ophthalmology of the American Medical Association in 1879, and became the Chairman in 1880.
The Lecturers in Ophthalmology were as follows:
| 1867-68 | Dr. Bolling A. Pope |
| 1869-73 | (none) |
| 1873-77 | Dr. Victor Grima |
| 1877-84 | Dr. Edward Harrison |
| 1884-90 | Dr. Stirling D. Kennedy |
| 1890-92 | Dr. William Cook Ayers |
| 1892-1907 | Dr. Edward Wynn Jones |
The Faculty of the School of Medicine was reorganized in 1907, prompting the resignation of Dr. Jones. The era of the Lecturer had come to an end, during which time private practitioners gave of their time to teach new physicians. This tradition of pro bono service continued throughout the history of the Tulane Ophthalmology Department.