Our community is deeply saddened with the passing of Hoover Rory Chan in the early morning of April 30, 2025, at the age of 69. For over four decades, Hoover was of course known to us for providing a cornerstone of the vision research community through his stewardship of the Color and Vision Network (CVNet). This vital communication platform, which he personally funded and maintained since the early 1980s, has been a primary channel through which vision scientists worldwide have shared research resources, scientific advancements, scholarly discussions, conference announcements, and job opportunities. Beyond this extraordinary service that united researchers across continents, Dr. Chan made significant contributions to vision science through his research and collaborations.
Beginning with a B.A. in Mathematics from Reed College, he earned his Ph.D. at U.C. Berkeley, followed by post-doctoral fellowships in color vision at Brooklyn College of the City University of New York with Israel Abramov and in spatial vision at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute with Christopher Tyler. He then turned his skills to becoming an IT specialist for a group of schools in the San Francisco area, and hosting their local area network. More recently, he held the position of Full Professional Researcher in the Department of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center, where he pursued research in a wide range of non-invasive electrophysiological studies of human vision and their clinical applications. On retiring, he rejoined Smith-Kettlewell in an advisory capacity.
Hoover is the current recipient of the 25th Anniversary Lifetime Service Award from the Vision Sciences Society in recognition of his four decades dedicated service in maintaining CVnet, which he funded from his own resources over this entire period. The many messages of appreciation that have come in following the brief announcement of his death attest to how much this channel of communication means to the members of the vision community.
A longstanding member of ARVO, OSA, and ISCEV, Hoover also participated in a wide variety of educational and public service organizations. He generously contributed his extensive technical skills, advice, and enthusiasm to the CIE Technical Committees on standards in vision science. Further, he founded and/or taught English as a Second Language (ESL) and Citizenship classes at the Chinese Progressive Association groups in New York City and San Francisco, and organized and coordinated health fairs in the San Francisco Chinatown /North Beach areas.
Hoover was an experienced yachtsman, caring for a succession of five different craft based in San Francisco Bay, on which he would entertain his friends and associates. He also taught boating safety classes for the US Power Squadron. His many friends and colleagues will always remember him for his unbounded curiosity, keen intellect, generosity, social awareness, and the calm, quiet strength that he maintained in his final days. He is survived by his wife, Debra Liu and his mother, Asako Chan. Donations should specify which of the institutions he fostered should be the recipient.
If you have memories, anecdotes, or vignettes about Hoover to share, David Grosof is collecting them to compile and post for our community at a future CVNet website. Please email them, with "cvnet" in the subject line, to grosof+cvnet@gmail.com. His life will be celebrated in a remembrance at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute on June 18th.
In addition to the June 18, 2025, remembrance, Smith-Kettlewell will continue Hoover’s desire to connect the vision research community by sponsoring the maintenance and moderation of CVNet. Smith-Kettlewell will also be honoring Hoover’s legacy and efforts with a campaign to fund in vision science. If you want to donate, please go to this link.
Christopher Tyler
Debra Liu
Vernon Odom
David Peterzell
Jeff Mulligan
David Grosof
Ken Nakayama
