Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana University plans to build one of the top eye research institutes in the country thanks to a $30 million donation announced Friday.
The contribution, by local philanthropists Eugene and Marilyn Glick, will allow the university to construct a $20 million, three-story building and create a $10 million endowment for research. That will help create one of the top 10 eye research institutes in the United States, according to IU School of Medicine officials.
“Marilyn and Gene, you have made it possible for us to create the future of advanced eye care right here on the campus of the IU School of Medicine,” outgoing university President Adam Herbert said during a crowded news conference before he walked over to hug Eugene Glick.
The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Eye Institute will create 40,000 square feet of research space for the school’s existing ophthalmology program. The school hasn’t selected a site for the new building and has no construction schedule yet.
The endowment will advance research in areas like glaucoma, cataracts and diabetic retinopathy, and university leaders said it will help them attract prominent researchers.
“I may not live to see it, but I want at least one breakthrough in causes of blindness to be found at the Glick Institute, and you guys better work at it,” Marilyn Glick said, as her audience laughed.
Last year, the 85-year-old couple donated $15 million toward the creation of an Indianapolis Cultural Trial bike and pedestrian path. They said Friday that they’ve been interested in helping fight blindness and eye problems for years.
Eugene Glick said both his grandmother and father had bad eyes.
“It’s a tribute to them,” he said.
Glick graduated from Indiana University in 1942. The couple started a home construction company in 1947, two years after he returned from Army service in World War II.
The Glicks’ company has built more than 30,000 residential units and manages 17,500 apartments in 11 states.
Their contribution for the eye institute amounts to the second largest individual philanthropic gift to the medical school.
Last fall, mall developer Melvin Simon and his wife, Bren, announced a $50 million donation to the university’s cancer center to boost research efforts and patient care.
Half of the gift is being used to create the Joshua Max Simon Research Endowment to recruit and retain internationally recognized researchers in the School of Medicine. The other half is slated to fund an expansion of the center’s patient-care facility.
Sources: Yahoo news | Indiana University | Journal Gazette
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