11 Facts About Denton Cooley

Denton Arthur Cooley was an American cardiothoracic surgeon famous for performing the first implantation of a total artificial heart.

Denton Cooley was born August 22,1920, in Houston, and graduated in 1941 from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a member of Kappa Sigma fraternity and the Texas Cowboys, played on the basketball team, and majored in zoology.

Denton Cooley became interested in surgery through several pre-medical classes he attended in college and began his medical education at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston.

Denton Cooley completed his medical degree and his surgical training at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland, where he completed his internship.

In 1946, Denton Cooley was called to active duty with the Army Medical Corps and served as chief of surgical services at the station hospital in Linz, Austria.

Denton Cooley was discharged in 1948 with the rank of captain and returned to complete his residency at Johns Hopkins, where he remained as an instructor in surgery.

In 1960, Denton Cooley moved his practice to St Luke's Episcopal Hospital while continuing to teach at Baylor.

Denton Cooley's interests included basketball, which he played in high school and as a three-year letterman for the UT men's basketball team, and golf, which he became interested in during his youth and played for 68 years.

Denton Cooley reportedly answered in the affirmative when a lawyer during a trial asked him if he considered himself to be the best heart surgeon in the world.

Denton Cooley filed for bankruptcy in 1988, citing real estate debts during a market downturn.

Denton Cooley died on November 18,2016, at the age of 96.