$2 million gift made to Storm Eye Institute
A $2 million gift to the Storm Eye Institute of MUSC will perpetuate
the Storm family legacy dedicated to preserving the vision of South
Carolinians. This represents the largest cash gift in the university's
history.
Pictured
are from left: Lt. Dwight Kennerly, retired SC Highway Patrol and patient
of the Storm Eye Institute; Laura Hewitt, vice-chair of the SEI Board of
Directors; Dr. Craig Crosson, SEI director of research; and Ellen Hamrick,
SEI director of development.
The gift came from the Kathleen Elizabeth O'Brien Foundation, which was established by the late Kathleen Elizabeth O'Brien, a niece of the late Willi Chapman Storm. Mrs. Storm, a patient of the late Dr. Pierre Gautier Jenkins, the first chairman of the MUSC Ophthalmology Department, made a bequest to the Medical University in 1967 as a memorial to her husband, Albert Florens Storm. The purpose of the bequest was to expand eye research and eye care for the poor in South Carolina. This gift was the genesis of the Storm Eye Institute, which was dedicated in 1976.
During its first 25 years, the institute has grown in international stature, and is recognized as one of this country's leading eye care facilities. In the research arena, the institute has reached the top 25 percent level of all eye research facilities in total National Institutes of Health grants. Since the beginning of the year 2001, 75 scientific publications originated from the Storm Eye Institute, including features on the cover of four of the most prestigious scientific journals in medicine.
“The $2 million gift will establish an unrestricted endowment for the
Storm Eye Institute that will grow as the years pass and will assure that
Storm Eye Institute researchers and clinicians have access to the latest,
cutting-edge equipment,” said M. Edward Wilson Jr., M.D., director of the
Storm Eye Institute. “I anticipate new treatments and cures for blinding
disease will result from work at the Storm Eye Institute because of the
O'Brien Foundation's generosity and their confidence in our doctors and
scientists.”
The Storm Eye Institute has been built on a tradition of philanthropic support. Mrs. Storm's initial bequest was the catalyst for the original building, a five-story structure on the MUSC campus. In 1998, an $8.8 million capital campaign was completed with the help of Lions Club members from across South Carolina and many other donors. These funds resulted in the addition of four floors to the building, completed in 1998.
The new $2 million gift is designated as the Kathleen E. O'Brien Endowment
Fund for the Storm Eye Institute. Kathleen E. O'Brien, who was raised
by Mr. and Mrs. Storm, acquired Bluff Plantation in Berkeley Country from
the Storms and subsequently bequeathed the plantation to her foundation
which
maintained the land as a wildlife sanctuary from Ms. O'Brien's death
in 1976 until last year. In September, the Bluff Plantation was sold with
the stipulation that the purchaser was required to impose a conservation
easement upon the land to forever protect the property in its natural state.
The $2 million gift to the Storm Institute is the major portion from
the proceeds of the sale of the plantation. The trustees of the O'Brien
Foundation were impressed by the track record of research discoveries and
patient care innovations at Storm Eye Institute and deemed that in light
of the Storm and O'Brien connection to the institute, the funds should
be used to further the work of sight conservation and research discovery
at MUSC's Storm Eye Institute.