University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center | 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 | 734.763.8122
Copyright © Regents of the University of Michigan
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| Endowment for Vision Research Ruth Tuttle Freeman  Ruth Tuttle Freeman was deeply grateful for the compassion and skills of her ophthalmologist, Paul R. Lichter, M.D., the Eye Center’s director. As a way to express her gratitude, Mrs. Freeman made provisions in her estate to create a permanent endowment to support research into blinding eye diseases. Mrs. Freeman passed away in 1999 and her legacy remains, just as she envisioned. The Ruth Tuttle Freeman Endowment for Vision Research was established, according to Mrs. Freeman’s wishes, to further research into the cure and treatment of diseases of the eye. The income from this fund will help to support glaucoma research that is planned for the laboratories being constructed in our current renovation and in our future expansion. Ruth Tuttle was born in 1904, the eldest of two daughters of Judge and Mrs. Arthur J. Tuttle, and was raised in Detroit. Inheriting their father’s love for the judicial system, Ms. Tuttle and her younger sister both graduated from the University of Michigan Law School. There were 10 other women in their entering law school class of 225. The two subsequently formed a law practice, Tuttle and Tuttle, and practiced for 10 years in Lansing. Theirs was the first all-woman law firm in that city. Ruth married Blair Freeman five years after finishing law school and moved to Detroit several years later. While in Lansing, Mrs. Freeman was an active volunteer and served on the Management Board of the Edward W. Sparrow Hospital. Her volunteer efforts continued in Detroit, namely with the establishment of the Senior Citizen Center. Despite suffering from a variety of vision problems, Mrs. Freeman remained very active. As Dr. Lichter noted, “Mrs. Freeman and I got to know each other rather well over the years. She was a woman who was interested in everything and who was able to understand the tremendous effect that a gift of this magnitude can have. It is a worthy tribute to her that progress in our efforts to halt the effects of glaucoma will result directly from her generosity.” Through her gift, Ruth Tuttle Freeman will make a difference in the quality of lives of people who have blinding eye diseases. She knew that through research, the answers to blinding eye diseases would be found. The Freeman Endowment will make that dream a reality. |
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University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center | 1000 Wall Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48105 | 734.763.8122
Copyright © Regents of the University of Michigan |