In September and October, as his health declined and retirement approached, Richard arrived at work dressed more impeccably than ever. He recently had discovered suits he hadn’t worn in a long time and wanted to make sure they got some use, said Renaldo Juanso, the Academy’s vice president for communications and marketing.

 

As someone who shared a love of fashion, Juanso was on the receiving end of Richard’s humor and advice. After a recent meeting, when Juanso complimented Richard on his bow tie, the response was, “Dear boy, if it’s the last thing I do, I’m going to teach you to tie a proper tie.”

 

Richard donned one of his prized suits and a bow tie for the Opening Session of the Academy’s annual meeting in Chicago, where he received the Guest of Honor Award. As he crossed the stage, thousands of his colleagues greeted him with prolonged applause. He was the first education vice president in the Academy’s 118-year history ever to be so honored.

 

“He was living for that award,” said Jane Aguirre, the Academy’s vice president for global alliances. It was a momentous culmination of a distinguished career because of the professional accomplishments and because of how he’d followed his father and grandfather on a parallel ophthalmic path. 

 

Plus, “Richard liked to be the center of attention,” Aguirre said. “So many times in the last six weeks he said, ‘I just want to get to Chicago. I want to walk across that stage.’”

 

He died that afternoon in his hotel room, still wearing the suit and bow tie.

 

His younger son, James, was in Chicago for the ceremony honoring his father. Richard’s colleagues had arranged for James’ flight from Dubai, so he could surprise his father with his presence. Pleased as he was to have his son there, Richard remained a stickler for propriety, looking over at James during one event and telling him, “Take your hands out of your pockets.” 

 

Richard’s illness was diagnosed in January 2013 and came a decade after he’d beaten prostate cancer. The radiation needed for the first cancer had caused rectal cancer, and, making matters worse, Richard had reached what’s considered a lifetime limit for radiation. That meant surgery and chemotherapy were the only treatment options this time.

 

“The news got from bad to worse,” Aguirre said. But Richard reacted in typical fashion. “He’d be upset for one day. Then he’d get his head around it. He’d be very scientific, and the next day he’d be fine.”

 

He remained a driving force for his team, insisting on leading biweekly ONE Network teleconferences in the weeks shortly before his death, said Dale Fajardo, who worked for Richard as director of online education and the ONE Network. 

 

Richard’s career in medical publishing began in Edinburgh with Churchill Livingstone and later Blackwell Science. When Blackwell decided to open an office in the United States and Richard insisted that someone from the United Kingdom needed to establish it, Blackwell picked him for the job.

 

While the move to the United States took him away from his sons, he visited them regularly and treated them generously. They were the first kids in Scotland to have Rollerblades, thanks to their father.

 

Richard arrived in Boston in 1983 and was Blackwell’s editorial director there for five years. He then moved to Philadelphia to work at W.B. Saunders, the largest medical publisher in North America, which eventually became part of Harcourt Health Sciences. In his leadership roles there, he developed vital initiatives in the transition to electronic and online publishing.

 

Richard liked to be at the forefront of advances in technology, which served him well when he applied for a position at the Academy. He already was known to the organization, having managed the production of ophthalmic textbooks in his previous roles.

 

“Richard applied by videotape, a unique format at the time, which demonstrated his ‘outside the box’ flexibility,” said David Noonan, who was deputy executive vice president of the Academy when Richard was hired. 

 

Working for the Academy in San Francisco, Richard was instrumental in the success of the organization’s peer-reviewed journal, Ophthalmology, and in the development of The Resident Hub, EyeWiki, OKAP International, the electronic versions of the Basic and Clinical Science Course, Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Essentials, the Hoskins Center for Quality Eye Care, the IRIS™ Registry, and numerous other programs and products.

 

He will be remembered most for building the ONE Network, which launched in 2007. It was the cornerstone of the Academy’s digitization of educational content. “It allowed us to disseminate ophthalmic knowledge more rapidly, globally and less expensively,” said Brad Wong, executive director of the Foundation of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. In the bigger picture, that advancement shortens the time between innovation and clinical practice, he said.

 

“The ONE Network has become the definitive word in the field of ophthalmology,” Fajardo said.

 

In addition to his sons, Richard is survived by four siblings who live in the United Kingdom, Sue Middleton, David Zorab, Charles Zorab and Sarah Fisher. He was preceded in death by his father, Edward Zorab, in 1993 and his mother, Janet (Baillie) Zorab, in 2012.

 

Richard’s ashes will be spread in his beloved Glencoe in the Scottish Highlands, where he spent much time as a young man and where he used to take his sons.