Interim Chairs

After Dr. Holland stepped down as chairman, Dr. Norman W. Pinschmidt (1915) became the Acting Chairman at the age of 62. He was Chairman for 3 months, when he had a heart attack. He then had a stroke and was forced to retire.

Dr. Robert Allen Gordon (b. 1944) then took over as Acting Chairman, holding that position for 15 months. He had completed a pediatric fellowship only 8 months before. He was 32 when he was tapped to lead the department. His lasting contribution to the department was that he remembered an ophthalmologist from his Baylor days named Dr. Delmar Caldwell, whom he recommended to the search committee. Dr. Caldwell was chosen as Chairman in 1978. Dr. Gordon remains on the faculty as our pediatric ophthalmologist.