Ophthalmology has been an official part of academic medicine in the Milwaukee area since the Wisconsin College of Physicians and Surgeons and the Milwaukee Medical College merged to become the Marquette University School of Medicine in 1913. (The medical school would legally separate from the university in 1967 and become the Medical College of Wisconsin in 1970.) Under the leadership of four division directors, when ophthalmology was part of the Department of Surgery, and two department chairs, eye care and vision science has flourished in southeastern Wisconsin.

In 2016, the Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences marked 40 years since the opening of the Eye Institute, made possible thanks to the initiative, leadership and support of Research to Prevent Blindness.