Meet NANOS Board

Dr. Andrew G. Lee

Describe the NANOS Board using 3 words.
Productive, strategic, visionary

Tell us about your journey to the NANOS Board in 3 sentences.
My board journey has been a wonderful trip filled with friendship, collegiality, professionalism, and fun. Working with such a group of dedicated and talented individuals leading and managing an organization such as NANOS has made me a better doctor, a better chair of ophthalmology, and frankly a better person. The best part of being on the NANOS board is to share quality time and goal directed activity with like-minded people and doing what I love in an organization that I love and with people whom I love!

What did you enjoy most about your Board service?
The best part of NANOS board service has been a feeling of accomplishment and professional fulfillment that has helped me to defeat physician burn out.

What achievements of NANOS during your Board service are you most proud of?
I am most proud of our Board navigating the financial and existential challenges of the worldwide COVID19 pandemic; the streamlining of our mission and our meetings; and the strategic planning for and creation of a sustainable pipeline that will ensure that neuro-ophthalmology will not only survive but thrive in the future.

What do you wish you had known when you joined the Board but did not know?
The end of service on the Board doesn’t mean that you no longer have anything to contribute to NANOS. To paraphrase Winston Churchill, “Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

What makes a good Board member?
A good Board member is attentive, enthusiastic, punctual, reliable, hard-working, and a good listener but a great Board member is all of that plus an active evangelist, brand ambassador, and advocate for neuro-ophthalmology at every opportunity inside and outside of the Board Room.

What is the most valuable lesson you have learned about governance matters?
I believe that good governance requires integrity, accountability, transparency, and responsiveness and that the reason that it matters is that people have to believe that their government is operating in their best interest. Likewise, NANOS members have to believe in their NANOS Board and that their governance has the members at the heart of every mission, action, and plan.

What is the most rewarding aspect of your board service?
The most rewarding aspect of my board service was the joy one feels from being a part of something larger than oneself. The Japanese have a word for this, “ikigai”. Ikagai translates roughly to "a reason for being" or "a purpose in life." Ikagai gives one a sense of joy, satisfaction, and meaning but not merely happiness, but in finding a deeper sense of purpose that connects one to something larger than yourself. NANOS gave me Ikagai and I am very grateful for that gift.

Who inspired you to get involved with NANOS?
1993 was a banner year in my life. I got married, I graduated from residency, and I started my fellowship with my friend, Paul Brazis MD from Mayo Clinic with Neil Miller MD at Wilmer. Neil told me to go to the NANOS meeting and he gave me a list of people to meet. The list was alphabetical and the first name on the list was AA (Anthony Arnold). Thus, in one year, I got a residency certificate, a fellowship, a colleague (Paul), a mentor (Neil Miller), and a best friend (Tony Arnold).

What was your busiest day as a NANOS Board member?
My busiest day as a NANOS Board member was my last day on the Board. It was busy not because of work but because of goodbyes. Every goodbye with every member from NANOS Boards of the past and present was full of memories and mirth, laughter, and life stories but most importantly love…a love of neuro-ophthalmology and a shared passion for our field.

Where do you see NANOS in 5 years?
The North American Neuro-Ophthalmology Society (NANOS) is dedicated to achieving inclusive excellence in the care of patients with neuro-ophthalmic diseases by the support and promotion of equitable education, research, and the practice of neuro-ophthalmology. Our mission statement is where NANOS has been and will be going  in 5 years, not just for the next 5 years but also the next 50 years. For me, neuro-ophthalmology has been NANOS and NANOS has been neuro-ophthalmology.

Posted June 2025