Gullapalli Nageswara Rao is an Indian ophthalmologist,[1] the chairman of the Academia Ophthalmologica Internationalis (AOI)[2][3] and the founder of the L. V. Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad.[4] A former Associate Professor at the School of Medicine and Dentistry of the University of Rochester, Rao is a Fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India[4] and has several medical research papers to his credit.

He has received the degree of Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) from the University of Melbourne, the Honor Award of the American Academy of Ophthalmology, International Blindness Prevention Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology[4][6] and the AEBA Award from the Association of Eye Bank of Asia.[7] Rao has served the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness as a board member, the secretary general (1998) and the president (2004) on various occasions.[3][4] He was honored by the Government of India, in 2002, with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri.[8] He was elected in 2017 to the Ophthalmology Hall of Fame instituted by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.