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Late Regent Gives Big Gift to UCLA Hospitals

$4.6 million donation will support research at the urology centers at UCLA's Westwood and Santa Monica campuses

The estate of a late University of California Board of Regents member and former May Co. department store executive and his wife gave the UCLA's Department of Urology $4.6 million, it was announced Wednesday.

The money from the estate of Frank and Dorothy H. Clark will go to support research at the Clark Urology Centers at UCLA's Westwood and Santa Monica campuses.

Frank Clark, a UCLA alumnus, passed away in 2008 at age 90. He was a long-time supporter of UCLA's urology department. He played a key role in the creation in 1993 of the Clark Morrison Pediatric Urology Center, which treats children with congenital conditions. Dorothy Clark died in 2011.

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The couple bequeathed a majority of their estate to the UCLA Department of Urology.

Mark Litwin, chairman of the urology department, said the estate is scheduled to donate a similar amount next year.

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Litwin called Clark "a tireless supporter" and said "this generous and unconditional gift, the first installment of Frank's bequest to the Clark Urological Center, will support the department's ongoing research, educational and clinical endeavors and is sure to inspire new innovations leading to improved treatments and, ultimately, cures for various urologic conditions."

Clark was appointed to the UC Board of Regents in 1980 by then-Gov. Jerry Brown. Clark served on the board for more than 20 years. He was attending
UCLA Hastings College of Law in 1941 when he joined the Office of Naval Intelligence after Pearl Harbor was attacked. Clark completed his law degree in
1946 and was named class valedictorian.

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