Harold Gifford

Harold Gifford Sr. (1858-1929) was an Ameria

Gifford moved to Omaha, NE, in 1886, where he became the city's first practicing ophthalmic surgeon. From 1895 to 1898 he was a professor of ophthalmology and dean of the Omaha Medical College, later known as the University of Nebraska Medical Center(UNMC).

After a brief hiatus from teaching he returned to the field as professor of optometry at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine, not to be confused with similarly named UNMC, where he taught between the years 1903–1925. He also served as associate dean of this institution from 1902 to 1911.^[5]

During this hiatus, Gifford conducted laboratory research, in some cases volunteering his own eyes as test subjects, during which time he made several discoveries furthering man's understanding of the cause of diseases of the eyes. The results of one such experiment, published in 1896, determined that acute

When he moved to Omaha in 1886 one of the driving motivations was to secure the hand of Mary Louise Millard, the daughter of Ezra Millard, a prominent banker, and pioneer land developer. Together, he and his wife had four children: Harold Jr. and his brother Sanford, who would both later follow in their father's footsteps, as well as daughters Anne and Mary.^[5]

As a devoted

As Sarah Joslyn is quoted to have said after Gifford's death from heart attack in 1929, "He was not only a great doctor, but a great philanthropist. The world will never know what he has done as a philanthropist, because he worked in such a quiet way."[5]

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