A nationally respected surgeon and teacher who died April 13, Dr. Hugh O. de Fries made groundbreaking contributions to the field of otolaryngology. While serving in the Navy Medical Corps, de Fries developed new reconstructive surgery techniques for Marines who suffered severe head and neck injuries in Vietnam, according to his obituary in the Washington Post. During his tenure at the National Naval Medical Center and later at the John Hopkins School of Medicine, he also pioneered chemotherapy treatments and new surgical techniques for the treatment of head and neck cancers.

De Fries started his career as a line officer in the Navy, serving from 1945 to 1949. In 1947 he was awarded his bachelor’s degree at Harvard; he received his dental degree at the University of Marylandol and received his medical degree from the University of Leiden in the Netherlands. As a member of the Navy Medical Corps, de Fries helped make the National Naval Medical Center a nationally renowned hospital for patients with head and neck cancer.

He was a consultant to the presidential physician and the surgeon general of the Navy from 1970-1978, treating Presidents Johnson, Nixon and Ford. After chairing the ear, nose and throat departments of various Washington-area hospitals, de Fries finished his career as professor of surgery at the Georgetown University Medical Center. To relieve the pressures of his profession, de Fries enjoyed sailing and spending summers in Maine with his family.