University of Utah Health announced that Jeff Pettey, MD, has been appointed Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in the Spencer Fox Eccles School of Medicine at the University of Utah and CEO of the John A. Moran Eye Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, effective September 1, 2025.

University of Utah Health stated that Dr. Pettey succeeds Randall J. Olson, MD, who served in the role for 46 years and established the Moran Eye Center as an internationally recognized leader in eye care, research, education, and outreach.

According to the press release, Dr. Pettey will oversee all aspects of the department’s operations while shaping its clinical, academic, research, and global outreach missions. He will work with University of Utah Health leadership and Moran Eye Center faculty to continue building on the department’s legacy of excellence in research innovation, and ophthalmic care and education while expanding access to eye care across Utah and beyond.

A Utah native, Dr. Pettey earned his medical degree from The Ohio State University College of Medicine in Columbus, Ohio. He completed his residency and fellowship at the John A. Moran Eye Center and holds an Executive MBA from the University of Utah. He has been on faculty at the Moran Eye Center since 2011 and will continue to see patients as he leads the department into its next chapter, noted the press release.

Dr. Pettey specializes in comprehensive ophthalmology and anterior segment conditions and conducts related research. He evaluates technologies in phacoemulsification. His research has evaluated the safety and efficiency of this technology to improve the most performed surgery worldwide.

Dr. Pettey has served in multiple leadership roles within the Moran Eye Center and is internationally known as a leader in his field who has shaped discussion and policy in the areas of ophthalmic education, global ophthalmology, and cataract surgery technology.

Additionally, in the School of Medicine’s Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Dr. Pettey served as Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs and Vice Chair of Education, as well as Residency Program Director for approximately a decade.

Dr. Pettey has served as president of the Program Directors Council for the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology and currently chairs the American Academy of Ophthalmology Sustainability Committee, noted University of Utah Health.