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The ​Rodolfo Perez Jr., M.D., and Margaret Perez Professorship in Ophthalmology Education

Rudy and Margaret PerezRodolfo N. (Rudy) Perez Jr., M.D.,  and Margaret Perez live in Boulder, Colorado. After thirty-seven years in medicine, Rudy retired in 2010 from a group ophthalmology practice in the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas. Rudy grew up in a small town along the Texas-Mexican border and is descended from a Spanish land grant family who came to the New World in 1515. He attended Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Texas. In St. Louis, he received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine, and completed a residency in Internal Medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Following military service in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, he completed a residency in ophthalmology at the University of Iowa under Dr. Frederick Blodi and a fellowship in retina under Dr. Robert Watzke.

Margaret was born and raised in Richmond, Virginia and graduated from Agnes Scott College in Decatur, Georgia with a degree in philosophy. She did graduate studies in philosophy at Washington University St. Louis and received a Masters degree in counseling from the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley . She taught Language Arts and English as a second language in middle school and later served as a counselor.

Rudy and Margaret settled in Weslaco, Texas close to where he grew up.  He joined two general ophthalmologists later to be joined by two other Iowa ophthalmology graduates, Dr. William Gillum in Plastics and Dr. Cristina Johnson in Pediatric Ophthalmology. The practice expanded to serve four communities with patients from Mexico as well as Texas.

Margaret and Rudy are the proud parents of four children: David, Ileana, Emily, and Edward, and grandparents of seven children. David and Edward are both Harvard graduates, and Ileana and Emily are Stanford graduates. They have all earned graduate degrees. David and Ileana are MBA graduates and Edward and Emily are MFA graduates.

Both Margaret and Rodolfo have been active in their communities in Texas and Colorado. Margaret was a member of Friends of the Library and assisted young children with reading. Rudy served on the school board and also the regional board for Teach for America. He has held offices in hospital medical boards and the Texas Ophthalmology Association. Rudy is a founding member of the Valley Symphony Association and Margaret a founding member of the Valley Youth Orchestra.

Currently, Rudy is Vice President of the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra Board, studies classical piano, and is learning guitar and mandolin. He attends lectures in physics and astronomy. Both he and Margaret enjoy chamber and symphonic music, opera, jazz and drama. They continue to explore and learn about the natural beauty of Colorado.