Surgical Pioneer Turned Faith Leader Dies at Age 101

Russell Nelson, MD, PhD, FACS, a pioneering cardiothoracic surgeon who was part of the team that created the first cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB)/heart-lung machine that would support open-heart surgery, passed away on Saturday at 101 years old.

An ACS Fellow since 1958, Dr. Nelson earned his MD degree at the University of Utah School of Medicine in Salt Lake City. During his residency at the University of Minnesota, he joined the research team of Clarence Dennis, MD, PhD, FACS, as they developed the CBP machine in 1951. The machine was used in a successful surgery by Dr. Dennis in 1955. 

In this era, Dr. Nelson served for 2 years in the US Army Medical Corps during the Korean War. He became part of a team that focused on finding ways to improve treatment of the combat wounded and eventually traveled to active combat units in Korea and several evacuation hospitals to provide treatment. 

After returning to the University of Utah in 1955, Dr. Nelson performed successful open-heart surgery after building his own CBP machine. He became the third surgeon in the US to perform successful open-heart surgery, and the first west of the Mississippi River. 

He built a successful career at Salt Lake General Hospital (now University of Utah Hospital) as a surgeon at the forefront of coronary artery disease and valve replacement. Dr. Nelson performed one of the first-ever repairs of tricuspid valve regurgitation and maintained an exceptionally low mortality rate for aortic valve replacements in the 1960s. At this time, Dr. Nelson was Chair of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at LDS Hospital, also serving as president of the Society for Vascular Surgery in 1975.

At age 59, he left his practice to serve in the upper echelons of the Mormon Church, known as the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints. At age 93, Dr. Nelson became its president, instituting sweeping changes that were at timed admired and criticized by both the liberal and conservative wings of the church, which serves more than 17 million people worldwide.