Career
Together they founded the Wesley-Jessen Corporation as well as the National Eye Research Foundation. Wesley-Jessen was acquired by Schering Plough in 1980 then and Chemical Industries Basel Vision by 2001. Working in an Uptown basement, Doctor Wesley helped craft a solution to his deteriorating vision: Comfortable contact lenses that could be worn for long periods.
Considered a pioneer in the contact lens industry, the Chicago-based Doctor Wesley went on to become one of the leading developers and manufacturers of contact lenses, paving the way for the modern contacts we know today.
Born Newton Uyesugi to Japanese-immigrant parents in Westport, Oregon, Wesley thrived in school and managed to graduate from high school at 16. He then enrolled at the North Pacific College of Optometry in Portland, Oregon, in 1925.
By the age of 22, he had an optometry practice in Portland. He had also begun to operate his alma mater, what is known now as Pacific University College of Optometry.
Then during World World War II he was forced to relocate to Richmond, Indiana, due to Executive Order 9066.
In the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago Doctor Wesley began researching a solution to his vision problems. The optometrist suffered from keratoconus, a degenerative disease of the cornea that affects vision, and had been told by experts that he"d likely lose his sight. He knew that contact lenses helped him see, but the lenses available in the 1940s couldn"t be worn for long periods.
Wesley and Jessen eventually developed the plastic lenses known as rigid contact lenses.
The end product was lenses that were smaller, thinner and longer-wearing, said Alfred Rosenbloom, a former dean and president of the Illinois College of Optometry. In 1946, Doctor Wesley and Jessen formed the Plastic Contact Lens Company, which later became Wesley-Jessen Incorporated.
lieutenant was acquired by 2001 by Ciba Vision. Doctor Wesley"s company began to manufacture and distribute the new, more comfortable lens, though it took an aggressive marketing campaign to convince the 1950s public that placing the lens in the eye was safe, Hodur said.
He also founded the now defunct National Eye Research Foundation.
Doctor Wesley, known for his bushy sideburns, toured the country marketing and promoting the lenses to eye care professionals, celebrities like Phyllis Diller and television audiences — who were wowed by his model, Leo, the contact-wearing rabbit. The optometrist traveled so often that he learned to pilot a plane that took off from Meigs Field. Doctor Wesley"s family also says that in the 1950s, he campaigned to get "contact lens" into the dictionary.