[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 60 (Tuesday, April 19, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E528-E529]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 TRIBUTE TO DR. ROBERT A. COPELAND, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. JAMES E. CLYBURN

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, April 19, 2016

  Mr. CLYBURN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in remembrance of Dr. Robert 
A. Copeland, Jr. a leading American ophthalmologist who helped the 
profession deepen its understanding of disparities and broaden its 
international reach. Dr. Copeland was the founding chairman of the 
Department of Ophthalmology at the Howard University College of 
Medicine, the position he held at the time of his untimely passing on 
the evening of Monday, April 11, 2016. He is survived by his wife 
Candie, whom he married May 24, 2008, and children Kennedie, Robert 
III, and Lucas.
  Dr. Copeland was widely admired as an advocate for the prevention of 
eye disease, a mentor to countless students, and an expert and 
attentive physician. His advocacy reached Capitol Hill, where I had the 
pleasure of working with him on patient issues. Dr. Copeland was 
scheduled to come to my office for a meeting in conjunction with the 
American Academy of Ophthalmology on April 14, the week of his passing.
  Robert A. Copeland, Jr., was born on December 13, 1955, in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His interest in the condition of the eye 
arose during his first week as a Fisk University undergraduate in 1973. 
Copeland was injured playing football and had to be treated for blunt 
trauma to the right eye at Meharry Medical College. After completing 
his studies at Fisk, Copeland earned a medical degree in 1981 from 
Temple University School of Medicine. He subsequently completed an 
internal medicine residency at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School 
at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1982, an 
ophthalmology residency at Howard University Hospital in 1985, an 
external disease/cornea fellowship at Wayne State University School of 
Medicine in 1986, and a cornea, external disease, and uveitis 
fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco in 1989.
  Dr. Copeland contributed more than three decades of service to Howard 
University. In 1982, he arrived at Howard University Hospital as a 
young ophthalmology resident. Four years later, he joined the Howard 
University Department of Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, as an 
instructor. He was elevated to

[[Page E529]]

assistant professor in 1988 and to full professor in 2010. He served as 
interim chief of the division from 1993 until his campaign to make 
ophthalmology a stand-alone department was successful in 2000. He was 
named chair in the document ratifying creation of the Department of 
Ophthalmology by the Howard University Board of Trustees.
  Dr. Copeland wrote multiple papers on corneal and external diseases, 
uveitis, and other diseases of the eye. His research focused on 
conditions affecting the eye, as well as the socioeconomic and gender 
disparities in cataract surgery, including factors such as insurance 
coverage, transportation, and other barriers to access.
  In 2012, in conjunction with a Duke University professor, Dr. 
Copeland published Copeland and Afshari's Principles and Practice of 
Cornea, a definitive textbook on the cornea. The two-volume work is 
over 1,500 pages long, includes 119 chapters, and weighs over 14 
pounds. Dr. Copeland also traveled throughout the world to perform 
humanitarian services for underserved populations. He served the people 
of Haiti, Saint Lucia, Ghana, Egypt, Ethiopia, Chile, Liberia, Nigeria, 
and India.
  Over the years, Dr. Copeland's work drew numerous awards and 
accolades. He was frequently honored by the American Academy of 
Ophthalmology, garnering the Distinguished Service Award, Achievement 
Award, Council of Appreciation Award, Surgery by Surgeons Award, and 
the Secretariat Award. He was frequently listed as a ``top doctor'' in 
major publications. In 2008, Dr. Copeland received the Professional 
Service Award from the Prevention of Blindness Society of Metropolitan 
Washington, and in 2013, he garnered an Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical 
Society nomination. At Howard University, Dr. Copeland was honored at 
the Ninth Annual Spirituality and Medicine Seminar in 2005--he was a 
member of Washington's historic Shiloh Baptist Church, where he was a 
deacon. Howard also honored Dr. Copeland with a Citation of Achievement 
Award in 2008.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask you and my colleagues to join me in remembering 
this barrier-breaking physician. Dr. Copeland was a leader in 
ophthalmology who used his expertise to help the underserved. His 
wisdom and compassion will be sorely missed, but his contributions will 
live on through all those who learned from him.

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