Background
Massoud Javadi was born in Besançon, France in 1974.
He, his parents, younger sister, and older sister, immigrated to the U.S. a few years later, after his father received a scholarship for a PhD program in Madison, WI. It was in this friendly, college town, that Massoud developed his love of books and his great curiosity about the world and its people. His intellectual grasp of world problems and politics at a young age flourished and impressed school teachers, who were sometimes skeptical as to whom really wrote his school papers! Massoud’s family eventually settled in Houston, Texas in 1983. It was in this dynamic city where he spent most of the remainder of his life, going on to excel academically and nourish his passion for helping others. Massoud attended Meador Elementary, later Thompson Intermediate, and then J. Frank Dobie High School. He enjoyed taking part in various academic contests such as the National Spelling Bee, Geography Bee, UIL, Latin Contests, and Academic Decathlon. Massoud even reached the White House on a historical visit as a member of Dobie’s National Academic Decathlon Champion team in 1992.
Massoud went on to study History at Rice University in Houston, and then acquired his medical degree from Baylor College of Medicine in 2000. Massoud's greatest concern in life was the inequality among the peoples of the world, and was always consumed by an insatiable desire to help the neediest people, regardless of where they lived. While studying, he began his global travels to medically aid the less fortunate in places such as Guatemala, Haiti, South Texas, and Thailand. During the Anthrax scare in 2003, the CDC in Atlanta sent Massoud to Thailand and Cambodia to study SARS and other endemic diseases in Southeast Asia. Later, he rendered medical services in the form of missions assigned to him by "Doctors Without Borders" (MSF) and other nonprofit organizations, in various countries including: India, Thailand, Nicaragua, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Zambia, South Sudan, Mozambique, Uganda, Tanzania and here in the United States. He also successfully completed 3 Ebola Tours in Africa. In the interim between these trips, Massoud worked in various hospitals in the U.S., and with the money he saved, he purchased medical and nutritional items for the poor of the next country where he volunteered to work. After dedicating more than half his life to helping others all over the world, including his beloved hometown of Houston, Texas, Massoud passed away in the Spring of 2015.
Although he is no longer here physically to continue his charitable endeavors, his giving spirit lives on here at the Dr. Massoud Javadi World Foundation, which is dedicated to continuing his legacy. Also, we encourage you to learn about some wonderful organizations he consistently supported in various ways, such as MSF, the ACLU, Sierra Club, Care.org, Partners in Health, Houston Food Bank, and NPR.
