Estate gift to benefit Medical School

A gift of $1.9 million from the estate of 1930 University of Wisconsin graduate Margaret Hart Larson will benefit neurosurgery at the UW–Madison. Mrs. Larson made the bequest “in honor of the many years of professional skill devoted to that department by Dr. Manucher J. Javid.”

The bulk of the estate will fund a named neurosurgery module at the University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics in memory of her father, Professor E.B. Hart, and her husband, Professor Russell H. Larson. The balance of the estate, as well as the distribution from a charitable trust given to the UW

School, has created a named professorship in the School’s Department of Neurosurgery in honor of Dr. Javid.

“It is a great honor for me to be the first Manucher J. Javid Professor in Neurosurgery as this allows us to carry out the Margaret Hart Larson request as well as honor Dr. Javid’s remarkable career in neurological surgery,” said Dr. Robert J. Dempsey. “The funds will be used in support of the neurological surgery department’s research. With the establishment of our new laboratories in cerebrovascular research, we hope to continue and enlarge our efforts to improve the prevention and treatment of stroke, cerebral brain injury and brain tumors.”

Dr. Javid, now an emeritus professor of surgery, revolutionized brain surgery in 1954 when he used a solution from the compound urea that alleviates swelling of brain tissue, both during brain surgery and for patients suffering from brain tumors, traumatic injuries and other conditions causing swelling of the brain.

Mrs. Larson, who died in 1996 at the age of 85, received her bachelor’s degree in 1930 from the UW’s College of Letters and Science. She was the daughter of UW–Madison Professor Edwin B. Hart, a pioneer in the study of vitamins and the role of copper as an essential element of human life. Chair of the Department of Biochemistry for 40 years, he also was involved in the process of creating iodized salt. He died in 1953, the year Dr. Javid began his work at the University. Her mother, Annie DeMille Hart, died in the mid-1930s.

Mrs. Larson’s husband, Russell, was a professor in the UW’s Department of Plant Pathology. In 1961 Professor Larson was diagnosed with metastatic cancer and Dr. Javid served as his surgeon.

“After the death of her husband, Mrs. Larson, who had no family, continued an association with the division of neurosurgery,” said Dr. Javid. “Since we needed temporary secretarial help, I suggested she might be interested in filling this position. She applied, was hired and worked until July 1962 when she took a permanent position with McArdle Labs.”

“I hope,” said Dr. Dempsey, “that the benefits of the department’s research will in some way repay the great generosity of Margaret Hart Larson and her family, as well as honor Dr. Javid for his remarkable career of service to the university, the state of Wisconsin and neurosurgical patients throughout the world.”