David Paton ’56, a world-renowned ophthalmologist whose career began at the Wilmer Eye Institute, died April 3 at his home in Reno, Nevada. He was 94.

He was best known for co-founding Project Orbis, the “flying eye hospital” — a plane that brought surgeons to developing countries to perform procedures and train local doctors onboard.

Born in Baltimore, Paton’s father, R. Townley Paton, was a prominent New York eye surgeon who served as chief resident at Wilmer and founded the world’s first eye bank. David Paton followed in his footsteps, serving as chief resident from 1963 to 1964.

A 1952 graduate of Princeton University, Paton earned his M.D. at Johns Hopkins and completed his residency in ophthalmology at Wilmer. He served on Wilmer’s faculty from 1964 to 1970 and was assistant dean of medical school admissions in 1970.

Morton Goldberg, director emeritus of Wilmer and one of 15 residents during Paton’s chief residency, described Paton as a “superlative eye surgeon.”

“He was a charismatic and hugely energetic person, and was greatly respected for his superior intellectual ability,” Goldberg says. “Those of us who came under David Paton’s large and sheltering umbrella admired him without reservation and hoped to emulate him in every way possible.”

The author of more than 80 medical journal articles, Paton published a memoir, Second Sight: Views from an Eye Doctor’s Odyssey, in 2011.

From 1971 to 1981, Paton served as chair of ophthalmology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, where he cared for underserved communities via mobile eye clinics.

In 1982, he became the first medical director of the King Khaled Eye Specialist Hospital in Saudi Arabia. He later became a professor at Weill Cornell Medical College and chair of ophthalmology at the Catholic Medical Center of Brooklyn and Queens.

His work on Orbis, which took its first flight in 1982 and is still in operation, earned him a Presidential Citizens Medal from Ronald Reagan in 1987. He also received the French Legion of Honor in 1984 and numerous awards from dignitaries and professional societies.