Following completion of his PhD in 1983, Professor Atchison worked as a research officer for the Australian spectacle lens manufacturer, SOLA. He joined QIT (now QUT) in 1985 and is now a Professor in the School of Optometry & Vision Science. For over 25 years he has been involved in the teaching and research of visual optics.

Professor Atchison has authored two books, 6 book chapters and over 230 papers in refereed journals of Optics, Visual Optics, Ophthalmology and Optometry.

Research interests:

• the optics of the eye and its effects on visual performance
• the optical design of spectacle contact and intraocular lenses
• colour vision.

Professor Atchison has obtained several ARC and NHMRC grants. He was awarded the Garland W. Clay award for the best clinically relevant paper published by the American Academy of Optometry for 1979. He was elected a Fellow of the Optical Society of America in 2003, and was awarded the Doctor of Science degree in 2004 for his researches in Ophthalmic and Visual Optics.

In 2011, he was awarded the Glenn F. Fry Award, the top research award of the American Academy of Optometry, for outstanding contributions in Optometry and vision science. In 2014, he was awarded the HB Collin Medal, the top research award of Optometry Australia (the professional body of Optometrists), which is given to an Australian who has made significant research advances in Vision Science. He has refereed papers for over 30 international journals, has been a topical editor for Applied Optics and Clinical and Experimental Optometry and is an occasional feature issues editor.