Dr. Raymond Fong, founder of the New York Eye Center, was born in Hong Kong. He came to the United States when he was five years old, and grew up in Chinatown. He has firsthand experience of the difficulties that new immigrants face. He made it his lifetime goal to serve the community of his youth

Dr. Fong graduated in the top 1% of his class at Stuyvesant High School. He then went on to Harvard University where he graduated with honors in biochemistry. After Cornell Medical School, he completed his surgical eye training (residency) at the prestigious Manhattan Eye, Ear and Throat Hospital. His ophthalmology practices in Chinatown and Flushing are the basis for his strong links with the many people, organizations and events of those communities.

• Dr. Fong has been named one of the "Top Doctors- NY Metro Area" each year since 1993. He is the only Asian cataract and LASIK surgeon to be so cited. This authoritative guide (published by Castle & Connolly Medical, Ltd. and available in most bookstores) lists highly qualified doctors within their specific field. It is based on extensive surveys of over 12,000 doctors, hospital leaders, as wells as hospital nurses and administrators.

• Dr. Fong has personally performed, by far the largest number of Asian cataract and LASIK surgical procedures on the East Coast and probably the United States.

• Past president of the prestigious Chinese American Medical Society -- more than 800 physicians and medical students dedicated to advancing the quality of healthcare among the Chinese.

• President of the Chinatown Health Clinic Foundation, the endowment organization that helps fund the Chinatown Health Clinic, the community's largest nonprofit center, which services immigrant and low income Chinese. Presently the foundation is embarking upon a ten million dollar renovation project with the involvement of Charles Wang, CEO of Computer Associates.

• Spearheaded exposure of unlicensed practitioners who performed illegal plastic surgery and abortions and even offered cures for cancer to the Chinese community. Dr. Fong's efforts resulted in a series of front-page articles in the New York Daily News and a crackdown by the City Department of Consumer Affairs as well as the District Attorney's Office.