A Visionary Legacy Paul and Carolyn Lichter make a planned gift to support department chair
Paul R. and Carolyn R. Lichter had met and started dating just months before they found themselves together as first-year students on the
Paul R. Lichter, M.D., and Carolyn R. Lichter have made plans for a generous bequest as part of a lifetime of charitable contributions to U-M
University of Michigan campus in 1956, both studying in the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts.
A Shared Journey
“We go back a long way with the university,” says Paul Lichter, today an active emeritus faculty member.
The Lichters married after earning their undergraduate degrees,
He is the immediate past chair of the Department of
and Paul Lichter went on to complete medical school, a master’s degree, and an ophthalmology residency at U-M. He
Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, a position he held
“
joined the faculty in 1971 and became chair of the
for 34 years, and the founding director of the W.K. Kellogg Eye Center. In an act of generosity that celebrates their history and adds to their legacy at U-M, the Lichters have made a planned gift to establish the
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences in 1978. As chair, he pursued a dream of building a comprehensive eye center to advance patient care, research, and education.
OUR GOAL WITH OUR ESTATE PLAN
Carolyn Lichter played a vital
WAS TO STRIKE A BALANCE, WE WANTED
role in the department’s growth, often
professorship will be held by the
TO BE GENEROUS BOTH TO OUR FAMILY
also became involved with UMMA,
chair of the department, jointly
AND TO OUR COMMUNITY.
partment Chair of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences. The endowed
with the F. Bruce Fralick Professorship in Ophthalmology.
— Paul Lichter, M.D.
“We wanted to help the department in perpetuity, and having our family's name attached to the chairmanship is particularly meaningful to us,” says Paul Lichter. “It will provide income that enables the chair to pursue a wide range of leadership and research activities.” The gift is part of the Lichters’ lifetime of charitable contributions to U-M, including annual, capital, and endowment
“
Paul R. and Carolyn R. Lichter De-
hosting and advising on events. She serving as a member of the first docent class and as a member of the Friends of the Museum of Art board. “I love the arts,” Carolyn Lichter says. “I was a docent at the museum for 18 years. I felt invested, which is one of the reasons I wanted to support the museum
through our estate plan. And we love music,
so we also decided to make a planned gift to UMS.” As they think about the transfer of immense wealth in this country as Baby Boomers age, they hope others will consider bequests to U-M and other charities.
gifts to Kellogg, the Medical School, and the University. They
“Our goal with our estate plan was to strike a balance,”
also have made bequests to the U-M Museum of Art (UMMA)
says Paul Lichter. “We wanted to be generous both to our family
and the University Musical Society (UMS).
and to our community.”
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