“I think of a hero as someone who, over a lifetime, performs deliberate, carefully thought-out, unique acts that demand moral courage. These are acts that anyone could, but no one else dares, do. The impact that a single courageous good deed can have is enormous. Just one such action may launch ripples to the eternity of time. When you ask about my heroes, clearly I have many—my wife Louise foremost.”
–Bernard Lown
Our hearts go out to the Lown family, who lost Louise Lown on Friday. She was the beloved wife of Dr. Bernard Lown for 73 years, and a loving mother, grandmother, and sister. Louise was a graduate of Tufts University (BA) and Smith College School of Social Work (MSW), spending 25 years as a social worker and 70 years as a peace activist.
In 2007, the Louise Lown Heart Hero Award was established to honor Louise Lown and her lifelong commitment to the rights and wellbeing of others through her work as a social worker, activist, and writer. The award was presented annually for six years, recognizing innovative approaches to promoting cardiovascular health in developing countries and other low-resource settings.
The Lown Institute would not exist as it does today without Louise’s decades of commitment to social justice and support of Dr. Lown’s work. She will be greatly missed.