Clement A. Hiebert ’47

Clement A. Hiebert ’47 died on July 3, 2008, in Portland, Maine.

Born June 7, 1926, he grew up in Lewiston. He was a member of Theta Delta Chi and graduated from Bowdoin magna cum laude and as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, studied at Harvard Medical School, and completed his internship and residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. In 1958, he continued his training by spending a year at the Strangeways Laboratory in Cambridge, England, as a Harvard research fellow, and another in Bristol, England, training in thoracic surgery. In 1960, he returned to Maine and began a 40-year career as a cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon at Maine Medical Center in Portland. He served as staff president of the hospital in 1984, as chief of surgery from 1986 to 1989, and was chairman emeritus, department of surgery, until his death. He served two tours on the hospital ship S.S. HOPE, traveling to Guinea,West Africa, and Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) as part of a program to bring health education and improved medical care to communities around the world. Among the many awards and recognitions of his work that he received were the Surgeon Teacher of theYear at the Maine Medical Center, the Gold Heart Award from the American Heart Association, and the annual Clement A. Hiebert Student Teaching and Resident Teaching Award at the University of Vermont.A highly-regarded speaker and writer, he published an autobiographical book of anecdotes, scores of surgical publications and several chapters in thoracic surgery textbooks, and served as co-editor of the two-volume Pearson Thoracic and Esophageal Surgery. He served on the boards of Opportunity Farm, the Portland Symphony Orchestra, and Goodwill Industries. He represented the American Board of Surgery in the inaugural Board of Surgery examinations in Baghdad, Iraq, in 1986, and was permanent vice president of the Harvard Medical School Class of 1951. He is survived by his wife, May Cameron Hiebert of Yarmouth; two sisters, Ruth Hiebert Davis of Brookville and Dorothy Hiebert Odell of Belfast; a brother, Gordon Hiebert of Alexandria,Va.; his children, from his former marriage to Maryanne Tremaine Hiebert of Keene, N.H., Timothy Hiebert ’79 of Providence, R.I., Sarah Hiebert Flowers of Oakland, Calif., Kristi Hiebert Morse of Yarmouth, Amy Hiebert Murphy of Warren, R.I., and Dr. John Hiebert of Wayland, Mass.; and seven grandchildren.