Page 174 - July-August 2020

OBITUARY

DR RAJESWARI

MAHADEVAN PASSES AWAY

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Dr Rajeswari Mahadevan at the young
age of 44 years on 15 July 2020 when she lost her battle to cancer. Dr Mahadevan was the head of the
Sankara Nethralaya contact lens clinic in Chennai for close on two decades.
The Indian Optician joins her many friends and colleagues in extending the deepest condolences
to her husband Mr Ganesh, daughter Ashwini, and other members of her bereaved family.

The following is an edited version of a tribute written by her colleague Venkataramanan Ramasethu,
senior clinical optometrist mentor, Sankara Nethralaya

Raji epitomized leadership, courage, resilience, dedication, perfection, and innovation. She brought
in all the best practices and advancements in the field of contact lenses and specialty CLs to Sankara
Nethralaya that raised the status of its contact lens clinic to the numero uno position.
Raji graduated from the prestigious Elite School of Optometry in 1994 and pursued her MPhil and
PhD in contact lenses while continuing to serve at SN. She held a number of first-of-its-kind accolades
including a PhD in the field of specialty contact lenses, PROSE clinical fellowship from the Boston
Foundation for Sight, USA, to becoming the Asia Pacific Regional president of the executive board of the
International Association of Contact Lens Educators (IACLE). She became a Fellow of the International
Association of Contact Lens Educators (FIACLE) in 2000, obtained a fellowship from the Scleral Lens
Education Society in 2014, was the recipient of the first Educator of the Year award in the field of CLs in
the Asia Pacific region for the year 2014, received a fellowship from the British Contact Lens Association
(FBCLA) in 2014, a fellowship from the American Academy of Optometry (FAAO) in 2016, and served as
the Asia Pacific president for IACLE. There was never a moment when she did not think “What next?”
Her proudest moment was the release of her first book on “Trouble shooting and problem
solving in contact lens practice” (2015). She also contributed to a book on occupational optometry,
and to Peyman’s Ophthalmology.

Raji will be missed deeply; her loss is indeed an irreplaceable and irreparable one to the SN family.
She will remain an inspiration to many on the personal and professional fronts.

| JULY-AUG 2020 | 170 OBITUARY