Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology

What Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology does

The Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) is a 501(c)(6) nonprofit professional membership association founded in 1966, headquartered at 655 Beach Street, San Francisco, California. It serves academic ophthalmology departments, their chairs, residency program directors, and faculty at U.S. medical schools, functioning as the field's coordinating body for academic training and faculty development. The organization operates a small staff of approximately 5 and is sustained by membership dues, annual meeting registration fees, and publications revenue.

AUPO's core products and programs include the Annual Meeting (the 60th edition planned for 2026, with the 2027 meeting scheduled January 27-29, 2027), the peer-reviewed Journal of Academic Ophthalmology (JAO), the Fundamental Clinical Competencies (FCC) curriculum established in 2005, the Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP) launched in 2020, the Women in Ophthalmology (WPO) initiative established in 2021, and the INTREPID diversity program launched in August 2024 in partnership with the National Medical Association Ophthalmological Society. The organization also operates an active Career Center with 94 listings and confers named awards including the Straatsma Award, the RPB David F. Weeks Award, and the Excellence in Medical Student Education Award.

The business model is a dues-and-events nonprofit association: institutional and individual members pay membership fees, attendees pay registration for the annual meeting and webinars, and JAO generates publishing-related income. AUPO's strategic ecosystem role is reinforced through formal partnerships with SF Match (ophthalmology residency placement), the American Board of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO), and the NMA OS, positioning it as a central node in the academic ophthalmology talent and training pipeline rather than a commercial product company.

Name

Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology

Legal name

Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology

Website

https://aupo.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1966

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

AUPO is a 60-year-old nonprofit professional association serving academic ophthalmology departments and faculty at U.S. medical schools, funded by membership dues, annual meetings, and publications including the Journal of Academic Ophthalmology.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: Annual membership fees from academic ophthalmology departments, institutions, and individual faculty members at member programs. Membership provides access to career services, networking, professional development programs, and publications.
2. Annual Meeting Revenue: Registration fees for the AUPO Annual Meeting, the premier gathering in academic ophthalmology. Includes educational programming, networking events, exhibits, and sponsorships.
3. Publications and Content: Revenue from the Journal of Academic Ophthalmology (JAO) publication activities and potentially newsletters.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

AUPO is a nonprofit professional membership association that serves academic ophthalmology departments, programs, faculty, and medical students. It offers career opportunity postings, peer-reviewed publications (Journal of Academic Ophthalmology), an annual meeting, residency/fellowship matching services (SF Match), leadership and research development programs (ALDP, WPO, CORE, SCOR, INTREPID), and educational awards and literature reviews.

Product overview

AUPO is a professional association serving academic ophthalmology, offering a portfolio of membership services including career opportunity postings, annual conferences, publications (the peer-reviewed Journal of Academic Ophthalmology), professional development programs (ALDP, INTREPID, WPO, CORE, SCOR), residency matching services (SF Match), literature reviews, and awards. The organization's core offerings center on education, research support, and professional development for academic ophthalmology departments, programs, faculty, and medical students.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Journal of Academic Ophthalmology (JAO): AUPO's peer-reviewed, online, open-access publication focused on academic pursuits of ophthalmology.
• Academic Leadership Development Program (ALDP)
• Women Professors of Ophthalmology (WPO)
• INTREPID
• Consortium of Ophthalmology Researchers in Education (CORE)

Products and services

• Career Opportunities Service

Quantifiable outcome

• 60 years of continuous leadership in academic ophthalmology representing the collective voice of the field
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers10 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SF Match Residency and Fellowship Matching ServicescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSF Match provides residency and fellowship matching services for ophthalmology, supporting AUPO's role in coordinating ophthalmology training programs. This partnership enables standardized matching processes for the ophthalmology specialty.
• National Medical Association Ophthalmology Section (NMA OS)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJointly launched INTREPID (INvestigating, TRaining, Equipping and Promoting) in August 2024, a program designed to support underrepresented minorities in ophthalmology. This collaboration advances diversity and inclusion in academic ophthalmology.
• American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAUPO and AAO co-hosted a webinar titled 'Advice for the 2026-2027 Ophthalmology Residency Match Season' featuring program directors, department chairs, and educators. Collaboration supports ophthalmology residency match process.
• American Board of OphthalmologyminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAUPO discloses AUPO membership and participation in AUPO activities to AUPO-affiliated medical societies and boards including the American Board of Ophthalmology, supporting certification and professional standards.
• Journal of Academic OphthalmologycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJAO is AUPO's peer-reviewed, online, open-access publication focused on academic pursuits of ophthalmology. The journal communicates new information critical to the advancement of academic ophthalmology.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• American Board of Ophthalmology: The independent certification body for ophthalmologists in the US. Listed by AUPO as an affiliated organization, it provides parallel professional infrastructure and shares member overlap with AUPO.
• Association of American Medical Colleges: The umbrella nonprofit for US medical schools and teaching hospitals. AAMC operates upstream of AUPO, convening academic medicine institutions that are themselves AUPO's member departments.

Broad incumbents

• American Academy of Ophthalmology: The largest US professional association for ophthalmologists, serving practicing ophthalmologists broadly across academia and private practice. AAO is a direct AUPO partner (joint Match Season webinars) and the most significant adjacent/overlapping organization in the field.
• American Medical Association: The largest US physician membership association. Operates at a much broader scope than AUPO, but competes for the same faculty dues and professional-development attention across all specialties.
• National Medical Association: The largest US organization representing African American physicians. Partnered with AUPO via the NMA Ophthalmology Section to jointly launch INTREPID in 2024, signaling strategic overlap in physician-leadership and DEI programming.
• American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery: The principal US professional society for otolaryngology, an adjacent surgical/medical specialty to ophthalmology. A useful structural analogue for how AUPO's narrow academic focus compares to AAO-HNS's broad clinical membership.

Direct peers

• Society of University Surgeons: An academic surgical specialty society serving full-time faculty at university-affiliated surgical departments. Mirrors AUPO's model of representing academic department leadership in a defined surgical specialty.
• Academic Pediatric Association: An academic-focused professional association for pediatric medical educators and researchers. Closely mirrors AUPO's mission and operating model in a different specialty.
• Association of University Anesthesiologists: A specialty academic professional association for university anesthesiologists, structurally analogous to AUPO: small membership-society model focused on academic leadership, research, and residency program support for a single specialty.
• Society of General Internal Medicine: A national academic society for general internists focused on education, research, and clinical care. Comparable in structure and constituency (academic medical-school faculty) to AUPO.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/aupo.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/aupophth
• Instagraminstagram.com/aupophth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology