S+S, Fall 2024
Ernest G. Salvitti left quite a legacy. Now it will be memorialized in the Department of Ophthalmology by his son, E. Ronald Salvitti M.D., funding a Chair in his father’s name.
The elder Salvitti was a coal miner who worked very hard at many odd jobs. When the coal mine closed, he worked as a mechanic at a gas station where he fixed cars and pumped gas. Eventually, he made an offer to the owner and bought the business. He continued to work tirelessly all hours of the day and sometimes the night.
Dr. Salvitti described his father as being energetic, a hard worker, entrepreneurial, and extremely friendly – the kind of person who would do anything for anybody.
“These are qualities which I would also attribute to Dr. Salvitti,” said Lawton Snyder, Eye & Ear Foundation CEO.
If somebody required something, Ernest was there to help. If someone needed their car the next day to go to work, he worked until the problem was solved. He was one of those people who built a lot of very good relationships and friendships over the years.
Ernest worked as long as he could, until the very end. He died at 72 from complications associated with leukemia.
Dr. Salvitti and his brother were the first in their family to graduate from high school and college; neither of their parents did. Dr. Salvitti was motivated to go into ophthalmology because of his father, who had vision loss associated with achromatopsia. He had no color vision and was extremely sensitive to light.
This is the third Chair Dr. Salvitti has funded. The first was in his name because of his interest in treating and solving problems associated with macular degeneration. The second Chair was named after his daughter Jennifer, who is also a graduate of Pitt’s Ophthalmology residency program. She is the managing physician of the practice and surgery center Dr. Salvitti started in 1973.
Dr. José-Alain Sahel, Chair of the Department of Ophthalmology, suggested that Dr. Salvitti name the third chair after his father. He and Snyder knew the story and how special it was. When Snyder asked about Ernest and why he was an inspiration in terms of putting his name on the chair, Dr. Salvitti answered very quickly and clearly, “His work ethic, in spite of his visual disability.”
Dr. Salvitti credits that tireless work ethic for his accomplishments and success. When he graduated, he started a family practice and continued with it until he decided to follow his initial ambition to become an ophthalmologist. During his last year in residency, he had the opportunity to be introduced to phacoemulsification design under the direction of Dr. Charles Kelman. The surgery was new and in development at the time; it is now the gold standard. Dr. Salvitti became a recognized leader and innovator in the field of phacoemulsification.
He now honors his father with the Ernest G. Salvitti Chair in Ophthalmology Research. He has also motivated others to be philanthropic.