Gifts in Action - Richard Forsythe

MEET RICHARD FORSYTHE

Richard A. Forsythe, 65, chairman of Forsythe Technology Inc., a technology solutions provider in Skokie, suffers from age-related macular degeneration. According to Janet Szlyk, Ph.D., director of low vision research at UIC, more than one-third of the population over age 75 has some form of the condition which causes hardening of the arteries that nourish the retina and results in the deterioration of central vision. Forsythe was referred to UIC and Szlyk who was looking for volunteers in a study evaluating the effectiveness of a new vision rehabilitation program developed in the low vision research laboratory. Forsythe participated in the study as a patient-volunteer.

HOW AND WHY HE GAVE

Volunteering can prove beneficial to people on both sides of the equation. Forsythe spent many months as a participant in Szlyk’s ongoing study, during which his ability to read improved substantially. Pleased with the results, Forsythe made a donation. Not long afterward he learned from Szlyk that the department had been offered the opportunity to acquire a new device, the Nidek Micro Perimeter MP-1. The MP-1 measures the sensitivity of the retina to light, which helps Szlyk measure patients’ fixation stability. As a gesture of gratitude, Forsythe bought them the machine. “They helped me and I was grateful, so I helped them back,” says Forsythe,

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

This gift has long-term implications for research directions in the department and will help us obtain more research funding. “With his contribution, Mr. Forsythe has helped many others like him with ARMD,” Szlyk says.