William and Patricia Bright fell in love with Wilmer nearly 50 years ago, and their Wilmer physicians have over the years helped them retain their vision despite the challenges of aging.

“The care has always been exquisite, and you can just feel the love,” says Patricia, who, with her husband, decided to express their gratitude by creating an endowment to support one of Wilmer’s four prestigious Medical and Surgical Retina Advanced Special Training fellowships.

The endowment will afford the Bright Fellow extra funding to allow them to pursue research and other goals. The Brights are making the gift in honor of two of their esteemed Wilmer physicians: Ashley Behrens, M.D., division chief of Comprehensive Eye Care and the Edward St. John Professor of Ophthalmology, and J. Fernando Arevalo, M.D., Ph.D., chair of ophthalmology at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center and the Edmund F. and Virginia B. Ball Professor of Ophthalmology.

“Training the next generation of retina specialists is incredibly important to our mission, so I am deeply honored,” Behrens says. “While my specialty is in cornea and refractive surgery for cataracts, I rely heavily on our retina experts, especially the fellows, who handle a lot of our emergency cases and are always available to see patients.”

A distinguished retina surgeon, Arevalo says he, too, was surprised and humbled by the honor. “The Brights are a delightful couple and they wanted to help provide support for training the next generation of retina specialists to do what I do now,” he says.

The inaugural recipient of the fellowship, Anupam Garg, M.D., Ph.D., is a Wilmer trainee who has already distinguished himself as an outstanding clinician, dedicated educator and outstanding researcher, says James Handa, M.D., chief of the Retina Division and the Robert Bond Welch, M.D. Professor of Ophthalmology.

“After completing his residency and serving as assistant chief of service, Garg hopes that his research will apply new imaging techniques to animal models and human subjects to gain insights into retinal physiology and pathology. The work will integrate scientific approaches gained from his Ph.D., clinical expertise, and projects accomplished at Wilmer with new techniques that he will learn from clinician-scientist awards,” says Handa.

Inspired by her mother, who taught her to give “without expecting anything in return,” Patricia says she and her husband have always shared a passion for philanthropy. William Bright is a prominent West Virginia entrepreneur — he founded more than 30 successful companies — and the couple is well-known for their generous support of medical research and other causes. They even led and heavily funded a campaign that saved their local rural hospital.

“I am very lucky to have a wonderful husband who’s made a comfortable income, and our reward is the opportunity to make a difference in people’s lives,” Patricia says.

They’ve raised their three daughters to live by words attributed to the great cultural anthropologist Margaret Mead, which Patricia says adorn every room of their Summersville, West Virginia, home: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”