Richard A. Perritt Charitable Foundation Continues Pioneering Work
In life, the late Richard A. Perritt, MD, exhibited a colorful personality. “He was a world-famous ophthalmologist and entrepreneur, an exquisite dresser with a very flamboyant personality,” recalled Ron Tyrpin, his close friend and financial advisor.
Fifteen years after his death, Mr. Perritt’s presence still is felt through the gifts of the Richard A. Perritt Charitable Foundation, which provides funding to several beneficiaries within Loyola University Health System (Loyola) including scholarships to Stritch School of Medicine (Stritch) students.
“We feel the scholarships are a memorial to Dr. Perritt, who was an alumnus of Stritch,” said Mr. Tyrpin, who manages the foundation along with his family. “It seems fitting that his foundation will promote future doctors. Whether they go into research or patient care, they may someday carry on Dr. Perritt’s tradition of medical innovations.”
The Perritt scholarships provide tuition to students in their second through fourth year of medical school who show a documented financial need along with an excellent record of scholarship, leadership and service. Four medical students have been recipients of the scholarships, with two, third-year students currently in the program.
Recipient Adam Nicholson, from Flushing, Mich., received his undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. “I’m very thankful for the Perritt Foundation and grateful for its generosity,” said Mr. Nicholson, who is considering specializing in pediatrics. “The foundation will be a large part of what I think about when I reflect back on my experiences at Stritch.”
Joshua Aaron, from Mt. Vernon, Ill., received his undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale and is considering specializing in surgery. “It’s both an honor and a privilege to have this scholarship,” Mr. Aaron said. “It has no doubt changed the course of my future and made my dream of starting my own practice more tangible.”
The scholarship recipients have an ideal role model for their donor. Dr. Perritt had his own ophthalmology practice in Chicago and worked well into his 90s. He traveled around the world spreading his knowledge through ophthalmology seminars and performed eye surgeries on two popes and various other dignitaries across the globe. Dr. Perritt was actively involved in research and was responsible for several breakthroughs in ophthalmology including the first corneal transplant. “Up to his dying day he was doing research,” Mr. Tyrpin recalled.
Mr. Tyrpin views the Perritt Foundation’s funding of medical education as a vital contribution to society. “I believe providing the funding to educate new physicians is especially important,” he said. “Who knows, you may fund a medical student who one day comes up with a new cure or treatment for diseases.”
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM
