Ophthalmologist Jacob Wayne Streilein passed away two weeks ago at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center after a brief illness. He was 68.

Streilein was Charles L. Schepens professor and vice-chair of the ophthalmology department, as well as professor in the dermatology department, at Harvard Medical School (HMS). He was also the president of the Schepens Eye Research Institute, an HMS affiliate and the largest independent eye research institute in the United States.

Family and friends described Streilein as someone who was deeply devoted to his research and family.

Paul A. Sieving, the director of the National Eye Institute in Bethesda, Md., said Streilein “combined tremendous abilities in his area of science with his understanding of people.”

“He was someone who knew what he wanted to get out of life, and did in a human and gentle way. He showed that you don’t always have to be pushy to get things done,” said Sieving.

Streilein helped to establish the concept of immune privilege, which holds that while other parts of the body reject foreign matter in the process of healing, the eye manages to protect itself without doing the same.

This concept revolutionized the understanding of eye transplants, and was central to the research done at the Schepens Eye Research Institute.

Dr. Andrew Taylor, associate scientist at the Institute, called Streilein a “giant in science—in ophthalmology, immunology and dermatology.”

“He had so much energy and persistence, he was almost superhuman, but never demanded that others be like him,” said Taylor, who had worked with Streilein for 14 years.

Streilein received his M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he also pursued post-doctoral training in immunology and transplantation.

He joined Harvard in 1993, and was elected president of the Schepens Eye Research Institute in 1995.

He last served as chair of the department of microbiology and immunology at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Over the course of his lifetime, Streilein was also the recipient of many awards, including the MERIT grant from the National Eye Institute. Aside from his research, Streilein also was a beloved professor and adviser.

“He was a mentor to younger people and older people alike,” Sieving said.

Streilein also appreciated the arts. His wife, Joan, said that he had a “musician’s mathematical mind,” often writing music and attending concerts.

“He would come back from a concert and explain the mathematical associations and progressions of the notes,” she said.

In addition to Streilein’s career achievements, Sieving said Streilein always maintained a personal integrity that was the source of great admiration among family, friends and colleagues.

“Everyone felt like they had a special relationship with him, and they did,” said Streilein’s wife, who met her husband while they were in college.

“I really like great science, but I like great people even more, and Wayne [Streilein] was one of them,” said Sieving.

Streilein is survived by his wife, Joan, his three children Laura Streilein Berend, William W. Streilein and Robert D. Streilein, 11 grandchildren and his brother David Streilein.