People / Spotlight on achievers : Doctor Recognized for Public Service

Richard V. Ohanesian, an ophthalmologist who performs volunteer eye surgeries for low-income patients in Orange County and abroad, is being honored this month by his alma mater, the University of Vermont College of Medicine.

The school’s Award for Service to Medicine and Community is given annually to a graduate who maintains high standards of medical professionalism and a long record of community service, officials said.

Ohanesian is the founder of the Laguna Beach-based Harvard Eye Associates. He and his partners often treat low-income patients referred to them by charity groups.

He is also the U.S. director for the National Eye Care Project for Armenia, which has raised more than $3.5 million for equipment, lasers and medication.

Ohanesian often travels to Armenia, north of Turkey and Iran, to perform surgeries and establish clinics, he said.

Armenia, which declared its independence from the Soviet Union just before its 1990 collapse, is still struggling with the aftermath of years of conflict, Ohanesian said.

“Little children disarming mines and having them explode in their faces is just one example of the devastation seen by the Armenian doctors,” he said.

Since 1975, Ohanesian has been a volunteer assistant professor for UC Irvine’s School of Ophthalmology. He is also a board member of a national organization that stages educational theater productions for teenagers, dealing with such subjects as AIDS, date rape and pregnancy.