In Memoriam

Demetre M. Nicoloff

August 5, 2003

In August of 2003, the Twin Cities Metropolitan area and the state of Minnesota mourned the passing of Demetre M. Nicoloff, M.D., Ph.D. at age 69. Truly a man for all seasons, during his 43-year tenure in the state of Minnesota, he served in both the academic and private practice of cardiovascular and thoracic surgery garnering a reputation as Minnesota's premier cardiovascular surgeon. He thrived as a business man and inventor, served humanity with many volunteer activities and invented numerous devices to improve the human condition.

As a person, Dr. Nicoloff (known by all as Nic) always had his best foot forward with a smiling attitude and a friendly manner. A family man, he was married for 40 years to his wife, Arde, sharing a mutually supportive and loving relationship raising three children, Alex, Stephanie and Mark. He was friend and mentor for many individuals over the spectrum of aspects and interests in his life, always available for advice, consult or just having a friendly conversation.

As a physician, Dr. Nicoloff performed over 10,000 open-heart surgical procedures on patients ranging in age from one day to over 100 years. He was a master of both congenital and acquired cardiac disease. He always made time and was never too busy to care for a patient. Because of his caring attitude and his ability to listen, many of his patients became more than professional acquaintances following their surgical intervention. He served as the founder and leader of a surgical practice that became one of the largest in the country and set the tone for quality of care and intellectual curiosity. He was a founding partner of the St. Paul Heart and Lung Institute and the Minneapolis Heart Institute organizations that epitomize quality cardiac care.

As a thinker, his ability to dissect a problem, eliminate nonessential elements and focus on the core issue to create a solution was legend. This ability not only extended to solving academic problems, but to solving problems of diagnostics and therapeutics in the course of the treatment of his patients, dealing with business and ethical issues in the most up-handed fashion, and creating new ideas for medical devices or operative procedures. His leadership skills were sought by many in his varied interests of medicine, business and administration, serving in the management and boards of directors of medical institutions, public corporations and non-profit charitable organizations.

As an inventor, Dr. Nicoloff's accomplishments had global impact. He was co-inventor of the St. Jude Medical heart valve, which has set the standard for artificial heart valves and has been implanted in over 1,250,000 patients over nearly 27 years. He designed the perma-flow graft researched through Possis Medical Corporation to provide new cardiac circulation in eligible patients. He served, designed and fostered the development of multiple surgical procedures and published over 400 manuscripts in the medical literature as well as two full texts.

As a businessman, Dr. Nicoloff served on the board of directors of research advisory boards for numerous corporations, directing their business to the betterment of his patients, designing and improving medical devices, conducting medical research, or driving the acceptance of medical devices and procedures to improve patient care. He was a co-founder of several prominent Minnesota corporations including St. Jude Medical and ATS Medical, directed an equities mutual fund, and served as a director of other investment funds. His unique viewpoints and experience in many of the issues involved in the complex world of business, delivery of healthcare and investing added immensely to the value of these enterprises.

As a humanitarian, Dr. Nicoloff played a role in outreach in international aid programs. He contributed to medical research and served as president for many local and regional societies including the Minnesota Academy of Medicine, American Heart Association, Minnesota Affiliate, the Minneapolis Surgical Society and the St. Paul Surgical Society. He led four medical missions to China, bringing a surgical team and supplies to correct congenital heart defects in children and was a supporter of other missions through Children's HeartLink, as well as being chairperson of the Children's HeartLink organization. He served on the board of directors of St. Vladimir's Orthodox Seminary. As a representative of the business and medical community, he often traveled to Europe for lectures and consultations adding a global perspective to his unique abilities.

We have lost a special person this year. Very few men of such character and vitality are found, and for those of us who knew him, we are grateful for this opportunity. We are left with his legacy in our community, inspired by his teaching of excellent surgical technique, creative thinking and the application of new surgical techniques and technology to the betterment of our patients.

Robert W. Emery, Jr., MD
Cardiac Surgical Associates
2356 University Ave West., #258
St. Paul, MN