David Ralph Millard, Jr. (June 4, 1919 – June 19, 2011) was a

plastic surgeon Plastic surgery is a surgical specialty involving the restoration, reconstruction or alteration of the human body. It can be divided into two main categories: reconstructive surgery and cosmetic surgery. Reconstructive surgery includes craniof ...

who developed several techniques used in

cleft lip and palate A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The ...

surgeries. He also popularized the double eyelid surgery or "Asian blepharoplasty" to “deorientalize” patients’ faces while stationed in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

during the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top:{ ...

. He was chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at University of Miami's Miller School of Medicine for 28 years, and maintained a private practice in Miami.

Early life

Millard was born at Barnes Hospital,

St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

. He attended the

Asheville School Asheville School is a private, coeducational, university-preparatory boarding school in Asheville, North Carolina founded in 1900. The campus sits on amid the scenic Blue Ridge Mountains and currently enrolls 295 students in grades nine through ...

Asheville, North Carolina Asheville ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Buncombe County, North Carolina. Located at the confluence of the French Broad and Swannanoa rivers, it is the largest city in Western North Carolina, and the state's 11th-most populous cit ...

. He played football at Yale, studied medicine at

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is cons ...

in 1944 and interned in pediatric surgery at

Boston Children's Hospital Boston Children's Hospital formerly known as Children's Hospital Boston until 2012 is a nationally ranked, freestanding acute care children's hospital located in Boston, Massachusetts, adjacent both to its teaching affiliate, Harvard Medical Scho ...

. A U.S. Navy veteran, he served stateside in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

but in Korea during the

, where he became interested in local children with cleft lips.

The Millard repair procedure

The rotation-advancement procedure for

cleft lip A cleft lip contains an opening in the upper lip that may extend into the nose. The opening may be on one side, both sides, or in the middle. A cleft palate occurs when the palate (the roof of the mouth) contains an opening into the nose. The te ...

repair, also known as the Millard repair, is designed to create a softer, more natural-looking lip. Surgery performed prior to the Millard procedure involved pulling both sides of the cleft lip together resulting in a tightly closed upper lip. The Millard procedure rotates the tissue and creates a "Z" shaped scar instead. The "Z" shape gives the tissue more elasticity, resulting in greater flexibility and restoration of the

Cupid's bow The Cupid's bow is a facial feature where the double curve of a human upper lip is said to resemble the bow of Cupid, the Roman god of erotic love. The peaks of the bow coincide with the philtral columns giving a prominent bow appearance to the ...

. image:Millardrepair1.svg, The blue lines indicate incisions. Image:Millardrepair2.svg, Movement of the flaps; flap A is moved between B and C. C is rotated slightly while B is pushed down. Note how the cupid's bow is created.

Recognition

In 2000, Millard was nominated as one of "10 Plastic Surgeons of the Millennium" by the

American Society of Plastic Surgeons The American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) is the largest plastic surgery specialty organization in the world. Founded in 1931, the society is composed of surgeons certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery or by the Royal College o ...

. In the April 2000 issue of ''Plastic Surgery News'', Millard was described as "the most brilliant and creative plastic surgeon we have alive. His work and publications speak for themselves." He is considered to be one of the founders of modern reconstructive facial surgery.

Personal life

Millard had two sons,(Duke and Bond) a daughter (Meleney), and six grandchildren (Davey, Lindsey, Blake, Ryan, Jennifer, and Kelsey)

Bibliography

* Gillies HD, Millard DR. ''The Principles and Art of Plastic Surgery.'' Butterworth. 1958. ** Reviews

* Millard R, Pigott R, Zies P. ''Free skin grafting of full-thickness defects of abdominal wall.'' Plast Reconstr Surg. 1969 * Millard DR, ''Total reconstructive rhinoplasty and a missing link.'' Plast. Reconstruct Surg 37:167-171, 1966.

References

External links

Ralph Millard biography
1919 births American plastic surgeons Harvard Medical School alumni 2011 deaths {{US-physician-stub