T. Boone Pickens to Give $20 Million to Wilmer Eye Institute
The renowned energy oilman is also a well-known philanthropist.
Texas oilman/financier T. Boone Pickens, 85, has announced he will bequeath to John Hopkins University's Wilmer Eye Institute. The gift will establish an endowment to fund a T. Boone Pickens Scholars program.
"What this gift will do is allow us to scour the globe, not just the United States, to find the best and brightest young minds, bring them here as Boone Pickens Scholars, [and] invest in them the resources that will allow them to explore that brilliant idea that, if it pans out, is going to be a game changer," said Dr. Peter J. McDonnell, the William Holland Wilmer Professor of Ophthalmology and director of the institute.
Pickens, chairman of BP Capital Management, has been treated at Wilmer for cataracts and for macular degeneration. This bequest will bring his support of Wilmer to more than $28 million. He established the Boone Pickens Professorship in Ophthalmology in 2005 and contributed $6 million to construction of the institute’s Robert H. and Clarice Smith Building, which opened in 2009.