Mary Lasker

Mary Lasker
Name	Mary Lasker
Caption	Mary Lasker in 1966
Birth name	Mary Woodard
Birth date	30 November 1900
Birth place	Watertown, Wisconsin
Death date	21 February 1994
Death place	Greenwich, Connecticut
Occupation	Philanthropist, health activist
Spouse	Paul Reinhardt (m. 1926; div. 1934), Albert Lasker (m. 1940; died 1952)
Awards	Presidential Medal of Freedom (1969), Congressional Gold Medal (1989)

Mary Lasker was a pioneering American health activist and philanthropist whose strategic advocacy fundamentally reshaped the landscape of biomedical research in the United States. Through her influential organization, the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, she orchestrated a decades-long campaign that dramatically increased federal funding for medical science, leading to major advances against diseases like cancer and heart disease. Her sophisticated lobbying efforts were instrumental in the creation of the National Institutes of Health as a world-leading research institution and the passage of landmark legislation, earning her the moniker "fairy godmother of medical research."

Early life and education

Born Mary Woodard in Watertown, Wisconsin, she was the daughter of a successful banker, Frank Elwin Woodard, and his wife, Sara Johnson Woodard. She attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison, graduating with a degree in art history, and later pursued further studies at Radcliffe College and the University of Oxford. Her early career in New York City involved work in the art world, including a position at the Reinhardt Galleries, where she met her first husband, Paul Reinhardt. This period cultivated the social acumen and strategic networking skills she would later deploy with immense effect in the realms of philanthropy and public policy.

Philanthropy and advocacy

Following her marriage to advertising magnate Albert Lasker in 1940, Mary Lasker merged her social energy with his resources to form a powerful philanthropic partnership. Together, they established the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation in 1942, with a mission to support medical research and public health. After Albert Lasker's death in 1952, she intensified her advocacy, co-founding the influential Citizens Committee for the Conquest of Cancer. She masterfully built coalitions with leading scientists, including Sidney Farber, and powerful politicians, leveraging media campaigns and personal persuasion to make disease research a national priority.

Role in medical research funding

Lasker's most profound impact was her relentless campaign to secure massive public funding for biomedical research. She and her "Lasker Lobby" targeted the United States Congress and multiple presidential administrations, from Harry S. Truman to Lyndon B. Johnson. Her efforts were central to the exponential growth of the National Institutes of Health budget, transforming it from a small cluster of institutes into the preeminent global funder of medical science. She specifically championed funding for research on cancer, heart disease, stroke, and mental health, directly influencing the establishment of institutes like the National Cancer Institute and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Political influence and legislation

Lasker wielded exceptional political influence, adeptly navigating the corridors of power in Washington, D.C.. Her lobbying was pivotal in the passage of the National Cancer Act of 1971, which launched the "War on Cancer" and provided unprecedented resources for oncology research. Earlier, her advocacy contributed to the creation of the National Institute of Mental Health and influenced health initiatives under President John F. Kennedy. She maintained key alliances with powerful figures such as Senator Lister Hill and Representative John E. Fogarty, for whom the NIH's main campus building is named.

Awards and recognition

For her transformative contributions, Mary Lasker received the nation's highest civilian honors. President Lyndon B. Johnson awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1969. Two decades later, the United States Congress honored her with the Congressional Gold Medal in 1989. The Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research and the Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award, part of the prestigious Lasker Awards program she sustained, have become among the most respected accolades in medical science, often presaging the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.

Personal life and legacy

Following the death of Albert Lasker, she remained a formidable force in health policy for over four decades, never remarrying. She divided her time between her apartment on Beekman Place in New York City and her home in Greenwich, Connecticut. Mary Lasker's legacy is immortalized in the robust system of publicly funded biomedical research she helped build. Her name adorns numerous facilities, including the Mary Woodard Lasker Center for Health Research and Education at the NIH. She passed away in 1994, leaving behind a transformed American medical research enterprise that continues to combat disease worldwide.

Category:American philanthropists Category:Health activists Category:Recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom Category:Recipients of the Congressional Gold Medal