‘Such a great history’: TCU alum documents Alcon’s remarkable story in new book

For almost four decades, Tom McDonald was a part of the team at Fort Worth-born Alcon, which continues to make innovative moves in the world of eyecare products.

He recaps the company’s first five decades in a new book, “Alcon Laboratories a Vision Fulfilled, 1947-1997,” published by TCU Press.

“I want to point out Alcon did not sponsor this book,” the 83-year-old McDonald noted. “I paid for it myself because I believe there is such a great history there.”

Today, Alcon is the largest eye care device company in the world, working in 60 countries and serving patients in more than 140 countries. It is one of Tarrant County’s largest employers.

McDonald, who earned bachelor’s degree in biology from TCU in 1965, followed by a master’s degree in 1967, worked for Alcon from 1965 to 2004. During this time he also earned a doctorate in cell biology from Tulane University in New Orleans, along with completing the International Senior Management Program with Harvard while still working for the company.

For his book, McDonald interviewed almost 100 retirees like himself from Alcon. He acquired much history from the company’s records.

“I wanted the book to meet the criteria of academic historians and to be published by an academic history press,” he said. “There are hundreds of other people who take equal pride in the accomplishments.”

As to why he chose the first 50 years as the focus of his book, McDonald said, “It was a logical end point. Two billion dollars in sales at 50 years with two CEOs.”

The company was born in Fort Worth in 1945 with a small pharmacy started by Robert Alexander and William Conner, who combined their names to come up with “Alcon.” In 1947, they incorporated as Alcon Laboratories, and a year later they started to market products nationally.

In 1953, Alcon introduced what became an industry standard with plastic eyedroppers. Over the years, the company provided instruments to perform cataract and other types of surgery, a line of glaucoma products, irrigating solutions and contact lens products.

Alcon relocated its headquarters to Geneva in 2018 but still operates a huge campus in south Fort Worth.

ABOUT THE BOOK

McDonald said the idea for the book came after having lunch in 2019 with his friend, Ed Schollmaier, who became the second CEO at Alcon following the retirement of William Conner, who co-founded the company with Bob Alexander. Conner died in 1992, Alexander in 1985 and Schollmaier in 2021.

McDonald’s book depicts how Alcon grew from a small company into the world’s leading ophthalmic specialty company by 1997. It highlights the core pillars of that growth, including groundbreaking products and visionary leadership.

During this time, the company grew from two people to over 10,000 employees producing thousands of products. Their presence became global, including the world’s largest ophthalmic research and development laboratory.

McDonald said one of the unique characteristics among employees is that about 25% worked at Alcon for their entire careers.

“It says a lot about Alcon being a desirable place to work,” he said.

The book also notes that in 1997, two decades after Alcon was purchased by Nestle, the company was responsible for 12% of Nestle’s profits.

“That was a smart decision by the folks at Nestle,” McDonald said. “They benefited nicely from Alcon.”

Nestle gradually sold its stake to Novartis, completing the sale in 2010. In 2019, Alcon was spun off from Novartis and became an independent, publicly traded company.

HIS WORK AT ALCON

McDonald was inducted into the Alcon Hall of Fame in 2006.

McDonald worked in two departments, starting in toxicology where he worked on the development of new drugs and devices. He became the second youngest person to head that department in 1972, and the first to lead it without a PhD.

Then, after getting his doctorate, he returned to work in the clinical department and soon took the lead of that group.

His favorite memories of Alcon are many, he said, most notably “the remarkable people I worked with.”

He stressed that it was exciting to be in the forefront of new medical and surgical advancements. For example, he created a slit-lamp ocular scoring system that became the industry standard and established the ophthalmic safe levels of ethylene oxide, which were accepted by the Food and Drug Administration.

However, he is always quick to defer personal credit, instead focusing on his teams.

“We were blessed to have some of the best pharmaceutical leaders in the world,” he said. “Remember, it’s not just me. They — and I — knew what we were doing.

“There were a lot of proud moments when a new product was approved, always a Hallmark.”

McDonald said he and his teammates also enjoyed lots of laughs. He stays in contact with several of them, a list that has grown of late.

“When I started writing the book I built a long list of emails, and I stay in touch with a lot of those folks,” he said.

COMING TO TCU

McDonald believes he was destined to come to TCU for college. Growing up in Comanche, his parents made regular trips to Fort Worth, during which he met the mother of the late Gayle Scott, former president of the Southwest Conference and head of the TCU geology department.

“She would tell me her son was a teacher at TCU,” he said. “Those talks with her planted the seed. I came to Fort Worth in 1960 and here I am still.”

After retiring, McDonald spent five years as a consultant for Nestle Nutrition Research and Development in Switzerland, implanting Alcon’s project management systems.

Being a seventh-generation Texan, he became a grassroots historian. He published his first book, “Texas Rangers, Ranchers and Realtors,” in 2021 with the University of Oklahoma Press.

The book explores social life and significant events in early Texas history, including his own ancestors arriving in 1820.

“Everything they did, every piece of land they bought, every document I could find, I wove into a story,” he said.

He remains loyal to his alma mater. McDonald serves on the advisory committees for TCU Press and the TCU Center for Texas Studies. He is a mentor in the ambassador program of AddRan College of Liberal Arts.

He and his wife, Shinko, a 1996 TCU graduate who is a Japanese/English interpreter, sponsor an annual award for Texas studies in the TCU history department. In 2005, he was selected for the prestigious TCU valuable alumni award.

He and Shinko travel extensively. They collect textiles and masks from remote areas of the world.

His Alcon book is in the archives at TCU and in the Tarrant County archives. It’s also available for purchase at TCUpress.tcu.edu. His first book is in the Bexar County archives and is available to buy at OUpress.com.

He’s already thinking about his third book, though he said, “I’m totally reluctant to talk about options right now.”

This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 11:39 AM.