The Eye & Ear Foundation awarded its first annual Albert C. Muse Prize for Excellence to Professor Dr. Med. Wolfgang Steiner, Professor and Chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery at the University of Göttingen, Germany.  The Muse Prize honors world leaders in the fields of Otolaryngology and Ophthalmology, with a recipient in alternating fields each year.

Born in Crailsheim, Germany in 1942, Dr. Steiner was a member of the German Air Force from 1961 to 1963.  After receiving his medical degree and finishing his training at in internal medicine and general surgery at the University of Erlangen/Nürnberg Medical School in Germany, he remained on staff there in the Department of Otolaryngology for fifteen years.  Dr. Steiner was appointed as Professor and Chair of Otolaryngology at the University of Göttingen in 1986 and still holds this position today.

Dr. Steiner has been involved in research concerning endoscopic, microscopic and laser neck surgery since the late 1970s.  He is internationally renowned for his development of minimally invasive surgical techniques for cancers of the larynx, transforming what was once a radical notion – the resection of head and neck cancers without damaging open surgery – into a reality for thousands of his patients.

 “The awarding of the Muse Prize celebrates the genius and perseverance of a truly remarkable surgeon and scientist of our time,” said B. Gordon Nelson, Chairman of the Eye and Ear Foundation.

Dr. Steiner was presented the award at the culmination of a day long event on September 25 that featured a lecture by the honoree and was hosted by the Eye & Ear Foundation and the Eye & Ear Institute.

The Albert C. Muse Prize was established in 2001 to honor the world’s leaders in otolaryngology and ophthalmology who have made significant, progressive contributions to the field of science and medicine in either of the two specialties. Nominees are submitted by department chairs at medical schools and research institutions across the U.S. and other countries. The award honors Albert C. Muse, a past chairman of the Eye and Ear Foundation and current vice-chairman, who has given more than 30 years of dedicated service to the Foundation and the Eye and Ear Institute.

Nominees are submitted by department chairs at medical schools and research institutions across the U.S. and other countries.