Hoover R. Chan

Hoover Chan was born in San Francisco, CA on July 24, 1955 to Sam Y. Chan and Asako F. Chan. He passed away on April 30, 2025 after a short illness. A graduate of Lowell High School, he went on to get his BA in Mathematics from Reed College and his PhD in Physiological Optics at the University of California, Berkeley.

First at Brooklyn College and then at the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute, Hoover embarked on a research career focusing on color and spatial vision.

As funding for basic science research became increasingly scarce, Hoover took a different career path. His knowledge of computer languages, systems programming and network infrastructure led to a 20-year career in education technology with Schools of the Sacred Heart in San Francisco and association with affiliate schools in the Sacred Heart network.

Hoover eventually found his way back to vision science when he began working in a clinical setting at the Ophthalmology Department at the University of California, San Francisco. After he retired, he returned to Smith-Kettlewell in an advisory capacity.

Even during the years when Hoover wasn’t actively working in vision research, he continued to manage and sustain an online-communication platform, CVNet (Color and Vision Network), keeping the international vision research community connected. In recognition of his 40 years of dedication and commitment to maintaining CVNet, he was posthumously presented with the Vision Sciences Society 25th Anniversary Lifetime Service Award in May 2025. Hoover was the first-ever recipient of this award.

His interests went far beyond the field of vision research. An early proponent of online communities, Hoover hosted conferences on The WELL and conducted workshops to help users with problems using the system in its early years. Besides CVNet, he managed and sustained two communication platforms for technology educators. He loved being out on the water and owned a series of sailboats as well as a motorboat. He volunteered his time to teach ESL and Citizenship classes at Chinese Progressive Associations in San Francisco and New York, and boating safety classes with the US Power Squadron.

Hoover is survived by his mother, Asako F. Chan and his wife, Debra Liu. He is deeply missed by all who knew him.

Smith-Kettlewell has started a fund in Hoover’s memory. If you would like to contribute, donations can be made at: https://www.ski.org/the-fund-in-memory-of-hoover-chan/. If preferred, checks may be sent to the Smith-Kettlewell Eye Research Institute at 2318 Fillmore Street, San Francisco, CA 94115, Attn: William Good, MD.