Denton arthur Cooley
He is considered one of the leading heart surgeons in the world. He was the first surgeon to successfully remove blood clots that had previously been inaccessible to heart surgeons. When the South African Dr. Christian Barnard completed the first successful heart transplant, Cooley and his associates studied Barnard’s methods carefully. He then performed the first surgeon heart transplant in the United States at St. Luke’s Hospital in Houston on May 3, 1968. He became the first surgeon to try using an artificial heart. He and Dr. Michael DeBakey, had a professional rivalry for over 40 years until the two mended their relationship before DeBakey died.