Endowed Chair Marks a Lifetime of Care, Friendship, and Support

John Cumming has seen firsthand how the Moran Eye Center helps people with vision issues and gives them hope.

Cumming’s struggle to keep his eyesight started in his early teens after being shot in the eye by a BB gun. The injury damaged his pupil and impacted his vision in certain light conditions. His father, Ian, turned to Moran CEO Randall J Olson, MD, for help.

“I had been seen by a lot of folks,” says John Cumming, founder and chairman of Powdr, a Park City-based ski and adventure lifestyle company. “Their answer was, ‘That is just the way it is going to be’ or ‘You are just lucky you can see.’ My dad got me an appointment with Dr. Olson, and that all changed.”

John Cumming, left, and Randall J Olson, MD, talk recently about the newly established Cumming Presidential Endowed Chair to honor Olson.

Lifetime of Care

Olson remembers that first visit with Cumming—then a young teen feeling socially conscious about his eye looking like a “cat eye” thanks to his injured pupil.

More concerning was the vision loss Cumming experienced—a dangerous issue for an athletic and active young man.

Olson performed surgery on the injured eye, repairing the damaged pupil by removing scar tissue and stitching up a tear.

“It was pretty avant-garde back then to go in and suture that torn area and make sure it was totally free to create the new pupil,” Olson says. “The re-formed pupil and surgery have held to this day.”

Olson and Cumming’s relationship has spanned more than 30 years and more surgeries than Cumming wants to remember. Over time, it turned into much more than purely medical.

For those reasons, John and his brother, David, decided to establish the new Cumming Presidential Endowed Chair to honor Olson.

“Looking at life through broken eyes is not something I’ve enjoyed, but having a partner to guide me through it has been a gift,” Cumming says.

“Dr. Olson has been a tether of optimism for me. Everything he says is thoughtful, empathetic, and responsible. Even when he has news I don’t want to deal with, it is always delivered with a warm, positive, enthusiastic, and can-do spirit.”

Giving Back, Supporting a Passion

In addition to the initial eye injury in his teens, Cumming has dealt with one eye problem after another, including cataracts, floaters, retinal detachment, optic neuritis due to multiple sclerosis, and a macular hole.

In appreciation of the ongoing care, the Cumming Foundation created the endowed chair for Olson. Once Olson retires, the title will change to The Randall J Olson, MD, Presidential Endowed Chair to honor his legacy.

“This endowment is extremely important, and it is going to be used for critical needs I have from time to time,” Olson says. “It makes a huge difference when there is a flexible fund for the department chair to utilize when a pressing need arises. This is just the latest evidence of the Cummings’ generosity for giving.”

Ian Cumming, who passed away in 2018, was known as a corporate titan who quietly supported causes to help under-served communities. He played an important role on a committee helping to create venues for the 2002 Winter Olympics and made many local philanthropic donations. John Cumming has carried on the tradition. Cumming says funding the endowment is “tiny” compared to what he and so many others have gained from Olson and the Moran Eye Center.

“The reality through all of it is that I can see,” Cumming says. "Moran’s efforts have helped so many, many hundreds of thousands of people across the world. For that, we are very grateful. I hope, in some incremental way, it will help maintain the momentum Randy has created at Moran. When you are confronted with not being able to see, it is terrifying. Having help in resolving those issues in a rational, thoughtful way is a gift beyond description.”

John Cumming

What is an Endowment?

An endowment is a gift to the university where the principal — the original value of the gift — is invested and not spent directly. Only a portion of the interest accrued on the endowment is distributed to support a program or need. The remainder is reinvested and augments the principal, so the endowment can grow and keep pace with inflation. Endowments last in perpetuity and support distinctive programs, scholarships, research, professorships, buildings — per the donor’s wishes — for generations to come.

Moran Names Two New Endowed Chair Holders

John E. and Marva M. Warnock Presidential Endowed Chair

Craig J. Chaya, MD, medical director of Moran’s Global Outreach Division, has been named as the Warnock Presidential Endowed Chair.

Moran CEO Randall J Olson, MD, nominated Chaya to fill the endowed position left vacant with the death of Alan S. Crandall, MD.

The Warnock Presidential Endowed Chair agreement requires an ophthalmologist with a passion for outreach work who shares Moran’s commitment to fighting preventable blindness worldwide.

Chaya received training in international ophthalmology as a Himalayan Cataract Project/Freedom Foundation Fellow in Kathmandu and Hetauda, Nepal, and volunteered with Crandall on many outreach trips locally and internationally.

“There are overwhelming unmet vision care needs in the world,” Chaya says. “Technology and innovation will allow us to reach more people with visual impairment than ever before. I am grateful for the unwavering commitment of the Warnock family, and I am honored to be leading our Moran outreach initiatives.”

Craig J. Chaya, MD

Dr. Ezekiel R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Endowed Chair

Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA, Moran’s vice chair of Education, has been named the inaugural holder of the Dumke Endowed Chair for Global Outreach in the John A. Moran Eye Center.

The Dr. Ezekiel R. and Edna Wattis Dumke Foundation established the endowed chair to promote excellence in teaching, research, and leadership in global outreach.

Pettey has long been a part of Moran’s outreach team locally and internationally and has lectured worldwide on ophthalmic education and outreach.

With support from the endowed position, Pettey will continue efforts to expand access to eye care throughout Utah and the Navajo Nation.

“I’m honored to be the recipient of this generous gift from the Dumke family,” Pettey says. “The endowment supercharges the Moran Eye Center’s global education mission and will expand training, collaboration, and capacity building. The Dumke family’s rich legacy will live on through the gift of sight throughout the world.”

Jeff Pettey, MD, MBA