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Fund Purpose: To support clinical and translational research and fellow education in pediatric neurosurgery.
Marion L. (Jack) Walker, MD, FAANS(L), was born in Columbia, Mississippi. He attended Brigham Young University from 1960-1961 before serving an LDS mission in California and Arizona. Jack briefly returned to BYU after his mission before moving back to Mississippi, where he completed his pre-med coursework. He graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1969, and completed residency training in neurosurgery at the Barrow Neurological Institute in 1976. Jack spent a year at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada where he developed a passion for Pediatric Neurosurgery.
Jack began neurosurgical practice in Salt Lake City in 1976, focusing his career on Pediatric Neurosurgery at Primary Children’s Hospital. He joined the faculty of the University of Utah in 1981, where he established the Division of Pediatric Neurosurgery and the fellowship program in Pediatric Neurosurgery. He quickly rose through the academic ranks to become Professor of Neurosurgery, and was instrumental in recruiting world-class faculty to Utah. He made significant contributions to the field, including pioneering the use of selective dorsal rhizotomy for spasticity, and the treatment of hydrocephalus. He served on the Board of Directors of the Hydrocephalus Association for 10 years. Jack retired as Professor Emeritus in 2016. An endowed chair was established in his honor.
Throughout his career, he trained many residents and fellows, several of whom became prominent leaders in academic neurosurgery. He was a leader in establishing Pediatric Neurosurgery as a recognized subspecialty, and was instrumental in founding the American Board of Pediatric Neurosurgery (ABPNS) and the Accreditation Counsel for Pediatric Neurosurgery Fellowships (ACPNF). During his career, Jack served in every leadership position in the field, including Chairman of the Joint Section on Pediatric Neurological Surgery of the AANS/CNS, President of the American Society of Pediatric Neurosurgeons, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the ABPNS, Chairman of the Section on Neurological Surgery of the American Academy of Pediatrics, President of the International Society of Pediatric Neurosurgery, Chair of the ACPNF and editor of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.
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