Kolff, Willem J(ohan) (1911– )

Dutch-born US surgeon and inventor. He is the inventor of the artificial kidney dialysis machine, and he headed the team that invented and tested a soft-shell artificial heart. He became a professor of surgery at the University of Utah School of Medicine in 1967. Kolff was born in Leiden, Holland. He was educated in his native land and taught and practised medicine there before emigrating to the USA in 1950.