Seeking the Light

Phillips and Ruth Lee Thygeson were pioneers in medical research on external diseases of the human eye. Together, this husband-and-wife team shared a mutual story of extraordinary accomplishment including, among other things, the discovery of the cause of trachoma, a potentially blinding disease that affects millions of people worldwide.

This comprehensive biography tells the story of their personal lives and careers. Beginning with their family backgrounds, the story continues through their meeting on the campus of Stanford University, their years of practicing "frontier medicine" in rural Colorado (where they built a log cabin with their own hands), their world travels in search of a cure for trachoma, and their considerable roles in establishing the Francis I. Proctor Foundation for Research in Ophthalmology. The story of this couple is one of a lifelong collaboration in medicine, a 70-year love affair, and an unending quest to conquer preventable blindness around the world.