The First Female Pioneers

Three of the first female UCLA ophthalmology residents were welcomed back to the Stein Eye Institute on November 30, 2022.

Dr. Anne L. Coleman (center right), director of the Stein Eye Institute and chair of UCLA Department of Ophthalmology, along with past Institute directors and departmental chairs, Dr. Bradley R. Straatsma (1964–1994; right) and Dr. Bartly J. Mondino (1994–2022; left), warmly received Dr. Marjorie Mosier (Res ’74, Fel ’76; Stein Eye Institute; black jacket); Dr. Marge Smith Lanard (Res ’70; Harbor General Hospital; gray jacket); and Dr. Connie Calogeris (Res ’70; Veterans Affairs Hospital, Long Beach; blue jacket).

Dr. J. Bronwyn Bateman (Res ’78, Fel ’79) president of the UCLA Ophthalmology Alumni Association and benefactor of the UCLA Bronwyn Bateman Center for Ocular Genetics, noted, “It was a historic moment to welcome these ophthalmology pioneers back to UCLA, have an opportunity to reconnect, tour the Institute’s vision-science campus, and introduce them to our current generation of female ophthalmologists.”

Dr. Angela Chen (Res ’25) said she was “humbled to share the afternoon with these impressive women who paved the way for our generation to follow our dream of a career in ophthalmology.”

The very first woman UCLA ophthalmology resident was Dr. Arlien E. Holzhauer (Res ’65; Harbor General Hospital), who died in 1969 at age 40. Dr. Holzhauer graduated before the Institute opened its doors in 1966, and she served as the vanguard for all women who have followed.

Much progress has been made at the Stein Eye Institute in equity, diversity, and inclusion. And today, approximately half of our entering resident class is female.