Lillehei, C. Walton

Lillehei, C. (Clarence) Walton

(1918–  ) surgeon; born in Minneapolis, Minn. He commanded a Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during World War II for three campaigns (1941–44), then returned to the University of Minnesota. He also spent eight years at the Cornell Medical Center (1967–75), returning again to Minnesota. His advances in cardiac surgery include codevelopment of the disposable bubble oxygenator (1955), for which he is dubbed "father of open heart surgery."

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.