Dr. Walton Li, a UCLA alumnus and an internationally recognized specialist and leader in the field of ophthalmology, has made a $2 million gift to create the Walton Li Chair in Cornea and Uveitisat the Stein Eye Institute. This chair will support the teaching and research activities of the Cornea and Uveitis Division chief in perpetuity, as well as create novel programs. Explaining his motiva­tion for contributing such a generous gift, Dr. Li said, “This chair was donated in my name because I greatly benefited from the education and training I received at UCLA. My total experience at UCLA shaped my being.”
 
Dr. Bartly J. Mondino, chairman of the UCLA Department of Ophthalmology and director of the Stein Eye Institute who has known Li for decades, said, “Dr. Li’s tremendous dona­tion will provide continuity of funding for the Stein Eye Institute and leave a legacy for future leaders in ophthal­mology. This funding will not only benefit the teaching and research endeavors of the Cornea and Uveitis Division chief, but it will also underwrite graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, staff and services, and special proj­ects. Furthermore, the endowment will provide financial resources that will allow for the exploration of promising new areas of research.”