Richard T. Mamiya (March 8, 1925 – August 27, 2019) was a heart surgeon. He performed the first

heart bypass Coronary artery bypass surgery, also known as coronary artery bypass graft (CABG, pronounced "cabbage") is a surgical procedure to treat coronary artery disease (CAD), the buildup of plaques in the arteries of the heart. It can relieve chest pai ...

operation in

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

Early life and education

Mamiya was born on March 8, 1925, in

Kalihi Kalihi is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the island of Oʻahu in Hawaiʻi, United States. Split by the Likelike Highway (Route 63), it is flanked by downtown Honolulu to the east and Mapunapuna, Moanalua and Salt Lake to the west. Kalihi is th ...

, Honolulu, Hawaii to Tsurumatsu and Margaret Mamiya. He was a third-generation

Japanese American are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

. He attended

Saint Louis School Saint Louis School, located in the neighborhood of Kaimuki in Honolulu, Hawaii, is a historic Roman Catholic college preparatory school for boys. It was founded in 1846 to serve Catholics in the former Kingdom of Hawaii. Located within the Roman ...

on scholarship, where he played on the

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

, and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

teams. He then earned an athletic scholarship to the

University of Hawaii at Manoa A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, where he played as a

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

. He had a reputation as a skilled athlete, and was later inducted into the UH Sports Hall of Honor. Mamiya also became student body president, and maintained high grades. Mamiya's

zoology Zoology ()The pronunciation of zoology as is usually regarded as nonstandard, though it is not uncommon. is the branch of biology that studies the Animal, animal kingdom, including the anatomy, structure, embryology, evolution, Biological clas ...

professors encouraged him to go to

medical school A medical school is a tertiary educational institution, or part of such an institution, that teaches medicine, and awards a professional degree for physicians. Such medical degrees include the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS, M ...

when he graduated in 1950. He studied medicine at

St. Louis University School of Medicine Saint Louis University School of Medicine is a private, Jesuit medical school. Part of Saint Louis University, the institution was established in 1836. The school has an enrollment of around 700, with about 550 faculty members and 550 residents in ...

, and specialized in

heart surgery Cardiac surgery, or cardiovascular surgery, is surgery on the heart or great vessels performed by cardiac surgeons. It is often used to treat complications of ischemic heart disease (for example, with coronary artery bypass grafting); to corr ...

. After graduation, he worked for a short time at the St. Louis University, then returned to Hawaii.

Career

Mamiya opened his practice in 1961. In 1965, he helped to establish the John A. Burns School of Medicine. Mamiya performed the first coronary bypass in Hawaii at

Queen's Hospital Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018 * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", a song by C ...

in 1970. During his career he reduced the amount of time the surgery took from four hours to two while maintaining a mortality rate of less than 1%. He performed more than 30,000 surgeries throughout his career. Mamiya retired in 1995 and became a philanthropist. Several buildings in Hawaii bear his name, including a theater at Saint Louis School, the science center at the

Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1889, it is the lar ...

, and the science center at

Punahou School Punahou School (known as Oahu College until 1934) is a private, co-educational, college preparatory school in Honolulu, Hawaii. More than 3,700 students attend the school from kindergarten through twelfth grade, 12th grade. Protestant missionar ...

. Mamiya died on August 27, 2019, at the age of 94.

Personal life

Mamiya married Hazel M. Ikenaga in 1950, who died on May 23, 1996.

Philanthropy

Mamiya's desire to give back to the community that supported him throughout his childhood and early adulthood resulted in donations to the following: * Mamiya Science Center at Punahou School * The Richard T. Mamiya Science Adventure Center at the Bishop Museum * Richard T. Mamiya Medical Heritage Center at Queens Medical Center * The Japanese Cultural Center * Palama Settlement * Holy Trinity Church * The University of Hawaii * The Honolulu Museum of Art * Blood Bank of Hawaii * The American Heart Association Through the Richard T. Mamiya Charitable Foundation which he founded, many others have benefited from his charitable contributions.

References

1925 births 2019 deaths People from Honolulu {{DEFAULTSORT:Mamiya, Richard Saint Louis School alumni University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa alumni Saint Louis University alumni American surgeons American physicians of Japanese descent