Harry Potter author JK Rowling received a benefactor’s award from Edinburgh University to mark her donation of £10m to fund a new Multiple Sclerosis (MS) clinic.

She was honoured for her ‘remarkable act of philanthropy’. The new clinic will be named after JK Rowling’s mother, Anne who died, aged 45, from complications related to MS. The Anne Rowling Regenerative Neurology Clinic will open in spring 2013.

JK Rowling says on the university’s website: “I cannot think of anything more important, or of more lasting value, than to help the university attract world-class minds in the field of neuroregeneration, to build on its long and illustrious history of medical research and, ultimately, to seek a cure for a very Scottish disease.”

Princess Anne presented the award in her capacity as the university’s new chancellor. Head of the college of medicine and veterinary medicine, Professor Sir John Savill said the money will have a 'major impact' on the university.

JK Rowling has supported the Multiple Sclerosis Society Scotland since 1999, acting as its patron for nine years. As well as donating money, she hosted events, lobbied politicians, wrote articles and gave interviews to raise awareness of the disease.

She supports a wide number of charities and causes including Comic Relief, Médecins Sans Frontières and the Labour party. She set up the Volant Charitable Trust, which funds projects to help alleviate the effects of social deprivation. It also supports research into the causes and treatment of Multiple Sclerosis. She is also president of Gingerbread, the charity for one parent families.

JK Rowling says: “You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need to do wise things with it and give intelligently.”

Before the success of her Harry Potter series, JK Rowling worked for Amnesty International.

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