Biography

Guy E. Knolle Jr., MD, FACS, received his medical degree from Tulane University School of Medicine in 1962. He did an internship at the Barnes Hospital Group in St. Louis and served for one year as a fellow in ophthalmology at the McMillan Eye Hospital.

Knolle continued his ophthalmology residency at Baylor College of Medicine. After serving two years as a captain in the U.S. Army, Knolle began the private practice of ophthalmology in 1968 by joining his father, a noted Houston ophthalmologist. That same year, he began teaching residents at Baylor College of Medicine, eventually becoming an associate clinical professor.

Knolle, an international lecturer and innovator of new surgical techniques, first began corneal transplantation in 1969. He studied keratomileusis with Jose Barraquer, MD, in 1978. He performed epikeratophakia in the early 1980s and started performing radial keratotomy in 1984. In the 1990s, Knolle began using automated lamellar keratoplasty to correct refractive errors for both nearsighted and farsighted patients. He was certified to use the excimer laser for refractive surgery in 1996. Knolle has been using the coherent ultra pulse laser to perform blepharoplasty and skin resurfacing since 1995. Knolle learned phacoemulsification, a technique used to perform small incision cataract surgery, in 1971, from Charles Kelman, MD, the innovator of this procedure. He began implanting intraocular lenses in 1975. In 1981, he developed his own intraocular lens implant, the PC80, which was used by surgeons throughout the country.

In 1986, he was recognized by CooperVision as one of 23 National Master Pioneers of Phacoemulsification, and his name was entered with the other 22 pioneers in the Congressional Record of the United States Congress for his efforts in helping develop the procedure. Shortly thereafter, he became the founding president of the Windsor National Associates, a select group of ophthalmologists dedicated to sharing ideas and techniques to enhance the clinical practice of ophthalmology.

Knolle served as president of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery from 1989 to 1991.