Francis Anthony L’Esperance, Jr., M.D. Medical Laser Pioneer

Francis Anthony L’Esperance, Jr., M.D., of New York City and Southampton, NY, passed away on February 1, 2022, at the age of 89 years old. He was the devoted husband of his wife, Ellen; and proud and loving father of Francis, Linda and their spouses Ros and Maurice; and five grandchildren, Zoe, Francis, Pierson, Winston and Devon. He was pre-deceased by his daughter Laura in 2013 and is survived by his brother Thomas. He is the son of Francis A. L’Esperance Sr., M.D., and Josephine (Sullivan) L’Esperance, who was a surgical nurse.

Dr. L’Esperance graduated from Deerfield Academy in 1949 and attended Dartmouth College, where he was on the varsity swim team. He served as president of his senior class while simultaneously attending Dartmouth Medical School, and graduated magna cum laude from Dartmouth College in 1953, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors. He then entered Harvard Medical School, graduating in 1956. He completed his surgical internship at Columbia‐Presbyterian Medical Center before his residency at Massachusetts Eye & Ear Infirmary, focusing on ophthalmology.

After moving to New York to begin a private practice, he focused his research at Columbia‐Presbyterian on 
the possibilities that a new medical tool at the time, the laser, might hold for eye surgery. Over two decades beginning in the early 1960’s, he pioneered the use of seven types of lasers for use in ophthalmological surgery and therapy, particularly in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy, a leading cause of blindness in the United States. Dr. L’Esperance was a professor of clinical ophthalmology at Columbia‐University College of Physicians and Surgeons and was also affiliated with several other top hospitals in New York before retiring in 2007. He has authored or edited ten medical textbooks, has written over 100 articles and chapters in the field of ophthalmology and has earned 23 patents.

He was also a pioneer in the field of laser vision correction, better known as LASIK, and was one of the first to use the excimer laser on humans. He co‐founded Taunton Technologies in 1986 and was issued three patents related to this technology. Taunton later merged with competitor VISX Inc., which completed its initial public offering in 1989. By 2002, about two thirds of laser vision correction procedures in the U.S. were performed with VISX equipment. VISX was subsequently acquired by Advanced Medical Optics in 2004, which ultimately became a subsidiary of Johnson & Johnson.

Dr. L’Esperance served on numerous advisory panels and boards, including as president of the American Board of Laser Surgery and as governor of the American College of Ophthalmic Surgeons. He is a former member of the Board of Overseers of the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College, where he endowed several research and scholarship funds. He received an appointment by President Carter to the National Health Resources Advisory Council in 1978, and in 2010 received the Rank Prize for Optoelectronics. He was also a past trustee of Deerfield Academy and is a proud recipient of its Heritage Award.

Funeral services will be private. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation in his name to the Southampton Fresh Air Home in Southampton, NY. (36 Barkers Island Road, Southampton, NY 11968)

Of his early pioneering work, Dr. L’Esperance said, “I was treating a disease that no one else in the world treated … using a laser that was different than anything anyone else had ever used in medicine. It was an exciting journey.”