Anthony M. Pilaro earned his undergraduate degree (1957) and his law degree (1960) from the University of Virginia. Mr. Pilaro is an attorney, investment banker, philanthropist, and serves as chairman of the CAP Charitable Foundation and the CAP Advisers Limited of Dublin. Mr. Pilaro was a founder of Duty Free Shoppers, the world’s largest duty free retailer which was sold to LVMH in 1996. He was a founder of VISX, the laser vision correction company which invented the LASIK procedure for vision correction and was a founder of BriteSmile Inc, the world’s leading tooth whitening company.
As a generous donor to the University of Virginia, Mr. Pilaro initiated the Jerome Holland Scholarships for African-American undergraduate students and the need-based Hardy Dillard Scholarships at the Law School. He is driven by a simple philosophy: Given proper nurturing and resources, young people who show promise will ultimately choose to help others much as they have been helped and will give freely of their money and their time.
Mr. Pilaro has chosen to help create the next generation of American leaders by founding the Ron Brown Scholar Program. Pilaro is also founder of The Studio, an exhibition gallery and studio space that serves as an incubator of cultural examination and artistic innovation in Dublin, Ireland. Through his generosity, two graduate students each year who possess outstanding artistic talent and hope to become independent artists are invited to live and study at The Studio where they can focus on developing their artistic voice. In addition to those working in education and the arts, Pilaro invests in people around the world who are making a difference in medicine and the environment.
