Longtime optometric educator and retired Southern College of Optometry Professor Freddy Chang, OD, PhD, passed away on Nov. 17, 2018, at the age of 83.
Freddy was born on September 18, 1935 in mainland China to Lennox Chang and Ulan Lai. In 1970, Freddy completed his optometry degree from the University of Waterloo, Ontario, Canada followed by a PhD in 1976 from Indiana University.
After a short stint as Assistant Professor at the University of Alabama Birmingham, he returned to a faculty position at Indiana University where he earned tenure and raised his family. While his accomplished career also included serving as Associate Professor at Southern California College of Optometry in Fullerton, California, as Chief of the Optometry Section at the Veterans Administration Outpatient Clinics in Los Angeles and La Jolla, California, and Director of Clinical Research at Vistakon in Jacksonville, Florida, he was proud to retire in June 2017 from Southern College of Optometry in Memphis, Tennessee after serving as professor for 15 years.
Freddy’s contributions to the field of optometry as a highly published researcher and frequent presenter are significant, but his legacy lives on in the many students whose lives he touched. He loved teaching. It was truly his life’s work and greatest passion. He once told a colleague, “If I teach the way I am supposed to, I’ll be able to live on another 40-50 years through my students.” He will forever be remembered as a favorite professor, respected mentor and colleague, generous friend, and beloved father and grandfather.
Freddy is survived by his children, David Chang (and wife Bee Ng) of Sunnyvale, CA, Warren Chang (and his children Caitlyn, Caroline, and Christopher) of Bloomington, IN, and Colin Chang (wife Joellan, and their sons Owen and Sam) of Bloomington, IN, wife Fleda Belcon-Chang of Memphis, TN, and nine brothers and sisters.
In honoring Freddy’s wishes, there will be no funeral services but rather a family burial of his ashes in Trinidad. If desired, memorial contributions may be made in his honor to: The Freddy Wilfred Chang Scholarship, Southern College of Optometry, 1245 Madison Avenue, Memphis, TN 38104.