You probably know Marilyn vos Savant as the woman with the astronomical IQ who answers impossible brain teasers in her "Ask Marilyn" column. But her personal life, specifically the man she shared it with for nearly forty years, is a saga of medical miracles and massive public scandals. Marilyn vos Savant husband, the late Dr. Robert Jarvik, wasn't just some guy behind the scenes. He was the man who literally tried to replace the human heart with plastic and aluminum.
Honestly, their pairing was the ultimate "power couple" for the 80s intellectual set. She had the world's highest recorded IQ. He was the visionary inventor who gave the world the Jarvik-7. But behind the headlines of scientific triumph, there was a lot of noise. People often get his story wrong, assuming he was a typical heart surgeon or that their life was just a quiet retreat of geniuses. It wasn't.
The Man Who Replaced the Heart
Robert Jarvik didn't just stumble into the spotlight. He forced his way there with a device that looked like it belonged in a sci-fi movie. In 1982, his Jarvik-7 artificial heart was implanted into Barney Clark, a retired dentist. Clark lived for 112 days. It sounds short now, but back then? It was a revolution.
Here's the kicker: Jarvik wasn't actually a licensed physician.
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Yeah, you read that right. While he had his M.D. from the University of Utah, he never did an internship or residency. He didn't treat patients in the traditional sense. He was a designer. An architect of the body. He once said he started studying architecture in college but switched to medicine after his father suffered an aneurysm. He wanted to build a heart for his dad. He was too late for that, but he ended up building one for the world.
A Marriage of Minds
Marilyn and Robert met after he reached out to her in the mid-80s. He'd seen her in a magazine—she was famous for that 228 IQ score—and he was intrigued. They married in 1987. It wasn't your average wedding, either. Isaac Asimov, the legendary sci-fi writer, walked Marilyn down the aisle. The best man? He was the seventh person ever to receive a Jarvik artificial heart.
Talk about staying on brand.
For decades, Marilyn was deeply involved in his work. She served as the Chief Financial Officer of Jarvik Heart, Inc. They lived in Manhattan, navigating the complexities of high-stakes medical tech and the relentless scrutiny that comes with being "the smartest couple in the room."
The Lipitor Scandal: When the "Doctor" Got Sued
If you were watching TV in 2006, you likely saw Robert Jarvik. He was the face of Pfizer’s Lipitor. The ads featured him rowing a boat across a pristine lake, talking about heart health "as a doctor."
This is where things got messy.
Congress eventually launched an investigation. Why? Because the "doctor" wasn't licensed to practice medicine or prescribe the very drug he was selling. To make it even more awkward, it turned out he didn't even row that boat. They used a body double for the rowing scenes.
The fallout was huge. Pfizer pulled the ads. Critics slammed him for being a "celebrity pitchman" rather than a medical authority. Marilyn stood by him through the media firestorm, but it was a rare moment where the pristine reputation of the Jarvik name took a serious hit.
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What Really Happened in 2025
Many people are still looking for updates on their life together, but the story took a somber turn recently. Robert Jarvik passed away on May 26, 2025, at the age of 79. He died at their home in Manhattan.
Marilyn confirmed the cause was complications from Parkinson's disease.
It’s a bit of a tragic irony. The man who spent his life trying to fix the mechanical failures of the human heart was eventually taken by a neurological condition. Even in his final years, he was still working on the Jarvik 2015—a tiny, AA-battery-sized heart pump for infants. He never really stopped trying to iterate on the human body.
Practical Takeaways from the Jarvik Legacy
Understanding the life of Marilyn vos Savant husband gives us more than just celebrity trivia. It offers a look at the intersection of genius, ethics, and innovation.
- Credentials Matter: Jarvik's story is a reminder that "M.D." doesn't always mean "practicing physician." Always check the specific clinical experience of medical spokespeople.
- Innovation is Messy: The Jarvik-7 was criticized for being "cumbersome" and "ethicaly questionable," but it paved the way for modern "bridge-to-transplant" technology that saves thousands today.
- The Power of Partnership: Marilyn wasn't just a spouse; she was a business partner. Their long marriage survived intense public pressure and the Lipitor controversy, showing a level of resilience that matches her intellectual reputation.
Robert Jarvik's life ended in 2025, but his impact on cardiovascular medicine is permanent. He moved the needle from "impossible" to "experimental." Today, artificial hearts are a standard part of the medical toolkit, all because a guy who couldn't get into a U.S. medical school at first decided to build a pump in a lab in Utah.
To really grasp the weight of his work, look into the history of the SynCardia Total Artificial Heart. It’s the direct descendant of Jarvik’s original 1982 design. Seeing how that technology has shrunk from a 400-pound compressor to a portable backpack is the best way to honor the man Marilyn vos Savant called her husband for nearly forty years.