NEWS
OKLAHOMA CITY –The Farzaneh Family Foundation has given a gift of $2 million to establish the Farzaneh Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology at the University of Oklahoma. The Dean McGee Eye Institute Foundation will meet the gift with their own gift of $750,000.
“This incredible gift from the Farzaneh Family to create an endowed chair builds on their tremendous history of supporting the University of Oklahoma,” said OU President Joseph Harroz Jr. “The establishment of the Farzaneh Family Endowed Chair in Ophthalmology will help attract faculty on the leading edge of medicine, teaching and research, ultimately elevating OU’s impact on the health of our state.”
The Dean McGee Eye Institute is a nonprofit organization that provides medical and surgical eye care. Because of an affiliation agreement with the University of Oklahoma, it functions as the OU Department of Ophthalmology and provides residency and fellowship training to ophthalmology students.
Brothers Mohammad and Jalal Farzaneh, both OU graduates, are the founders and managing partners of Home Creations. The Farzaneh family has been giving back to the university for over 20 years.
The family and its foundation are carrying on their philanthropic work through its second generation of leaders. Mohammad’s sons MJ, Hamid and Vahid and Jalal’s sons Ali and Hossein helped guide the donation to Dean McGee and will continue to lead future philanthropic initiatives on behalf of the Farzaneh Family Foundation.
“We’re honored to make this gift to the University of Oklahoma and benefit the health and education of our community,” said MJ, Hamid and Vahid Farzaneh. “Our family has had a long relationship with the Dean McGee Eye Institute, and we’ve always been grateful for the staff and medical professionals within the Dean McGee Eye Institute. It is our hope that establishing this endowed chair will have a significant impact on our community's health for years to come.”
All five members of the Farzaneh family’s second-generation leadership group are OU graduates who are passionate about giving back to the university.
“Our family has always emphasized the importance of caring for our neighbors,” said Ali and Hossein Farzaneh. “As the second generation of partners at Home Creations, we strive to continue giving back to our community and building a stronger Oklahoma through education and health care access. This gift will ensure that Oklahoma has access to high-quality eye care and medical research through the Dean McGee Eye Institute.”
In addition to the gift to establish the endowed chair at OU, the Farzaneh family has donated $250,000 to the DMEI Foundation to create a start-up fund that will provide the future chair holder with resources to set up a lab, purchase equipment and hire staff. This gift has been matched by the Stanton L. Young Foundation and the University Hospitals Authority and Trust.
The Farzaneh family gave another $250,000 to the DMEI Foundation to purchase new lab equipment – a swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography device for more detailed imaging of the retina, and a laser flare photometry device to detect and assess inflammation of the eye related to uveitis.
About the University of Oklahoma
Founded in 1890, the University of Oklahoma is a public research university located in Norman, Oklahoma. OU serves the educational, cultural, economic and health care needs of the state, region and nation. For more information visit ou.edu.
About the OU Foundation
The University of Oklahoma Foundation is an independent charitable organization that facilitates and manages philanthropic gifts to support the University of Oklahoma. With a culture of integrity, skill and persistence, we align the passions of donors and our alumni with the indelible mission of the University of Oklahoma.
