William Devries

William C. DeVries (Dec 19, 1943 -) is an American cardiothoracic surgeon, who performed the first successful permanent artificial heart implantation (on Barney Clark), using the Jarvik-7 model. DeVries was the son of a Dutch immigrant father who served as a surgeon in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was born at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. His father, Henry DeVries, died in combat in 1944 aboard the destroyer USS Kalk during the Battle of Hollandia.