Obituary: Mary Woodard Lasker

Mary Woodard Lasker, campaigner and philanthropist, died Connecticut 21 February, aged 93. Keen supporters of biomedical research, she and her husband, Albert Lasker, an advertising magnate, established the Albert Lasker Medical Research Awards in the 1940s. She set up the research programme of the American Cancer Society in 1943, and helped create the National Cancer Institute. Recipient of more than 60 awards and medals, including the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism in Philanthropy from Johns Hopkins University in 1992. Campaigned too, with Lady Bird Johnson, for the beautification of US cities.