Hushang Javid

Hushang Javid
Born	August 10, 1921 Tehran, Iran
Died	September 16, 2023 Chicago, Illinois, USA
ABM	Americas 1957 - 1965

Dr. Hushang Jalal Javid (August 10, 1921 - September 16, 2023) was a Persian Bahá’í who served as an Auxiliary Board member for the Americas. In his career he was a successful surgeon and medical academic.

Biography

Javid was born in Tehran in 1921. He had a brother, Farhang, and two sisters, Javidukht who was the wife of Hand of the Cause Zikrullah Khadem, and Samin. He completed an undergraduate degree at the University of Tehran in 1940.

In 1943 at the age of twenty-two Javid moved to America to study medicine at Columbia University in New York alongside eight fellow Bahá’í youth including his brother Farhang, and he attended the United States National Convention that year and was introduced alongside other Persian Bahá’í students by Ali Kuli Khan and addressed the Convention on their behalf saying:

"Allah-u-Abha! It gives us great happiness to be here among our sisters and brothers of all this hemisphere. When we left Tihran we were asked to be bearers of loving greeting from the Bahá’ís of our home city, and felicitations on the completion of the Seven Year Plan and the historic Temple. You have worked long and hard for this and we hope from now on to join hands with the Bahá’ís the world over in completion of the next step in the progress of the Cause of God."

Hushang teaching at a youth event in Urbana, 1945.

In January 1945 Javid chaired a Race Unity meeting in Chicago at the House of Worship, and at the 1947 National Convention he spoke on the importance of practicing the teachings in ones daily lives at a youth conference.

In 1946 he graduated from the University of Illinois with his M.D. and he continued his studies completing an M.S. degree in 1948 and a PhD in 1954. At some point he served in the US Army in Tacoma, Washington, achieving the rank of Captain.

As of 1950 he was living in Chicago and that year he facilitated a six week deepening course on the Dawn-Breakers with Rouhollah Zargapur in Chicago. In February 1951 he delivered a talk on why he was a Bahá’í at the House of Worship in Wilmette, and in June he married Dolores Higgins, and they had four children. In November 1956 he delivered a talk on the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh at a Methodist Church in Tacoma, Washington.

In October 1957 Auxiliary Boards for Protection were established by Shoghi Effendi for each continent and Javid was appointed as an Auxiliary Board member for Protection for the Americas and assigned the responsibility of addressing a Teaching Conference in Ann Arbor, Michigan, by the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States. As of 1960 he was still serving as Board member and delivered a talk at a World Peace Day event in Rochester, Minnesota, but by 1965 he had completed his service on the institution.

In 1966 Javid became a Professor of Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine and he served in the role until 1971 when he moved to serve as Attending Cardiovascular Surgeon and Professor of Surgery at the Rush Medical College of Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center. He became a renowned surgeon in the Chicago area and in 1974 he notably conducted a successful carotid endarterectomy surgery on the Mayor of Chicago. He also invented the Javid Shunt, a device which is still used in carotid endarterectomy surgery. In addition to his successful professional career in surgery he was also an active academic in the medical field publishing many research papers and speaking at international academic gatherings.

In 2023 Javid passed peacefully in his sleep at the age of 102.

References

Bahai.media has a related page: Category:Hushang Javid