With the full academic and financial support of the China Medical Board of the Rockefeller Foundation, Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) was officially inaugurated in 1921. Since then, PUMC has been one of the most prestigious medical schools in China and the only one that is connected to the Chinese Academy of Medical Science. From its founding, there have been 10 chairpersons at the PUMC Department of Ophthalmology. The first 4 chairpersons, Howard, Pillat, Von Sallmann, and Kronfeld, were trained in Vienna and established the program's Western system. The latter 6 chairpersons, Luo, Hu, Zhang, Li, Zhao, and Dong, who were educated mainly in China, have maintained the program's excellence and made significant contributions to ophthalmology and medicine in China and the world. Under the strong leadership still in place today, PUMC will continue to provide generations of leaders for academic modern medicine and health care in China. Accordingly, the Department of Ophthalmology, one of the oldest ophthalmology departments in China, will continue making significant contributions to the global realm of eye and vision research and health care.