Alvis, Edmund B. 1910-1988

Dr. Edmund B. Alvis (1910-1988) was a longtime St. Louis ophthalmologist who graduated with an M.D. from the Washington University Medical School in 1934. He served his residency at Barnes Hospital where he continued on staff for 50 years. He also worked in private practice with his fater Bennett Y. Alvis in St. Louis. During World War II, Dr. Alvis rose to the rank of colonel in the Army after his exemplary service as an eye surgeon with the 21st General Hospital Unit in North Africa, Italy, and France. At war's end, he returned to his father's practice (later known as Alvis, Kayes & Knopf). As Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology, he taught at Washington University through 1978, the same year he retired from practice. Dr. Alvis also published a number of articles on ophthalmic surgery, his chief interest. Sources: Obituary, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 17 September 1988 and Barnes Hospital Bulletin, October 1988, p. 6.