Dr. B. Ralph Chou, BSc, MSc, OD, FAAO

B. Ralph Chou received his BSc in Astronomy from the University of Toronto before attending the University of Waterloo where he received the degrees of Doctor of Optometry and Master of Science. During a post-doctoral fellowship at the City University in London, UK, Ralph began a 30-year career as a Professor of Optometry at Waterloo. His research interests include optics and visual effects of progressive addition lenses, and assessment of environmental and occupational hazards to the eye. He is an acknowledged world expert on solar eclipse eye safety and spectacle lens impact resistance. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Canadian Journal of Optometry and was Chair of the Technical Committee on Eye and Face Protection of the Canadian Standards Association from 2010 to 2020.

He is Canada’s head of delegation to the International Organization for Standardization’s Technical Subcommittees on Eye Protection and Ophthalmic Optics. He was lead writer of the 2015 ISO standard for solar eclipse filters. He was President of the Science Teachers’ Association of Ontario in 2015-2016 and recently retired from the STAO Board of Directors. An active amateur astronomer for over 50 years, he served as President of the Toronto Centre of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada for 11 years and is now Director of its E.C. Carr Astronomical Observatory. In November 2022, the asteroid 1986 QS1 was named 10491 Chou in recognition of his contributions to solar eclipse eye safety around the world and to the Canadian astronomical community.