T. Boone Pickens promises $20M to Hopkins

Texas billionaire T. Boone Pickens just put Johns Hopkins University in his will, promising $20 million from his estate to support vision-saving research.

Pickens, 85, has been treated for vision problems at Hopkins’ Wilmer Eye Institute.

“When I have a problem – and I do have an eye problem – I find the best, and that was Wilmer,” Pickens said.

Pickens father was legally blind by the time he was in his 80s.

The $20 million gift is included in Pickens’ estate and will create an endowment to fund a T. Boone Pickens Scholars program, supporting clinician-scientists with innovative ideas for new vision loss research.

Pickens had previously contributed $6 million to the Wilmer Eye Institute’s Smith Building, which opened in 2009.

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