In Memoriam: William C. Dement, MD, PhD (1928-2020)

June 18, 2020: It is with great sadness we announce the passing of a pioneer in the field of Sleep Medicine, Dr. William C. Dement, on June 17, 2020. Dr. Dement was a leading authority in the field, with major accolades being a key force in the founding of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and the Sleep Research Center at Stanford University.

Dr. Dement, Bill to his colleagues, was an author of many books and articles, and often known by his legacy as one of the founding fathers of sleep medicine.

When fellow sleep pioneer, Dr. Guilleminault, passed away in 2019, Dr. Dement’s powerful words echo his own contributions, using phrases such as “changed the world” and “put Sleep Disorders Medicine on the map.” Dr. Dement ended his sentiment with words that the Sleep Medicine & Research community now feels on his behalf: “I will cherish his memory, as should tens of thousands of sleep disorders patients.”

View the Many Tributes from the Sleep Medicine Community

Dr. Clete Kushida of Stanford states:
I had known Bill since I was 17 years old and a freshman at Stanford, and he was the main reason I became interested in sleep medicine and research. Bill had been like a father to me, and he had always had a tremendous influence on my career, from helping me write my first academic paper to encouraging me to later attend the University of Chicago like he did. I’ve given some thought as to why he was such a great mentor, colleague, and leader and I came up with the following points: First, he gave excellent, unselfish advice. Bill was the quintessential people person; he could read people very well. He could tell when you were troubled, and, with his decades of experience, he’d literally “seen it all”. Combine this with his knowledge and vast number of friends and colleagues from whom he could obtain specific answers, he would thus help guide you to a solution to almost any problem.

Second, he was an outstanding communicator. During World War II, he reported on the war, and I’m sure this experience led him to refine his unparalleled communication style. To this day, I know of very few people who would go through several drafts to write even a simple letter so that it was unmistakable in the distinctive Bill Dement style of clarity, conciseness, and collegiality. Anyone who had listened to his lectures or read his books could attest to his gift of expressing complex ideas in a simple and straightforward manner.

Third, he had a great sense of humor. It is known that you are more apt to remember events when they are associated with emotion. I attribute this fact as to why, to this day, I can recall quite vividly his lectures during his extremely popular Sleep and Dreams course, because, during Bill’s class, you had a tremendous amount of fun while learning. My experience is far from unusual, since I will invariably run into people whom say that they took Bill’s course and that, like me, they felt that it was the best course they took while in college. Fourth, he never failed to keep you on your toes; he always expected only the very best from you. If you had ever sent him one of your manuscripts for advice, you had better make sure that it was pretty near perfect. If you did a good job, he would tell you, often in a very warm email or a well-written personal note. But heaven help you if you became drowsy in his presence, because if you were in a meeting he would ask you to tell everyone what the speaker last said. Or if you were a student in his class and fell asleep, you needed to be prepared to shout that “drowsiness is red alert” while being repeatedly shot with squirt guns wielded by your classmates.

Lastly, my final point is illustrated in this story. Many years ago, my very first position within the American Academy of Sleep Medicine was as an accreditation site visitor. My first assignment as a junior site visitor was to travel to a sleep center in Washington state to review it for possible accreditation by the Academy. Well, at about 5:30am on the day of the visit, I was awakened in my hotel room by a call from Bill (note: he always practiced what he preached, making sleep a priority: going to bed early, obtaining at least 8 hours of sleep, and awaking at the same, early time every morning). He immediately asked me which legislator I was going to meet that day to educate on the importance of sleep medicine and research.

I started sputtering incoherently that this was my first day as a junior site visitor, that I didn’t know if I could slip away from the site visit to see the local legislator, and so on. He paused for a moment and said very clearly and pointedly, “Well, Clete, you must find a way. It is your responsibility to the field to do so.”

With that in mind, I talked to the lead site visitor and the staff at the site, and as soon as I mentioned Bill’s name, magically, the site visit was paused at lunchtime and all of us, including the entire sleep center staff, went to visit the local congressman that day. That was truly an amazing experience. It made me realize that not only was Bill’s reputation in the field far and wide, but also that this was Bill’s most important quality… he never failed to recognize the big picture and to passionately and persuasively point out to you what was really important not only for you and your career, but, importantly, for the field of sleep medicine and research. I consider myself very fortunate to be counted among the thousands of his grateful students and trainees.
Clete A. Kushida, MD, PhD
Stanford University

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The passing of a great man. His work has saved millions of lives and his trust in people doing the right thing was incredible. Although Bill is gone, his spirit is alive and he still lives through all the students he has empowered.
Emmanuel Mignot, MD, PhD
Stanford University

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I unfortunately barely met Bill, except very few times, such as in Lyon at the Jouvet meeting, but his ppsm II was what gave me my first thorough intro to sleep medicine. I still remember sitting in the small apartment in Buenos Aires in the 90s, reading it from beginning to end during my fellowship there and it was a real eye opener–still my favorite standard handbook for sleep medicine. And he had a popular book for the general public, which helped me to learn about the stories in sleep med. He will be missed.

Birgit Högl, MD
President, World Sleep Society

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Dr. Dement is known as the father of sleep medicine. For those of us who had the honor and fortune to have known him personally, and for all generations of sleep medicine clinicians and researchers, and most importantly patients with sleep disorders, Bill is a HERO. I vividly remember being awestruck when, as a junior faculty, I first shook hands with Dr. Dement. I will deeply miss watching and listening to him play at the APSS band, our great conversations (always took my calls even when he had no idea who I was–just a person interested in sleep) and years later visiting him at his Palo Alto home where so much sleep history took place and made.
Phyllis C. Zee, MD, PhD
Northwestern Medicine

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I will always remember Bill Dement not just for his teaching and leadership but also for his great humor and sense of irony. He described his experience when interested in healthy sleep and sleep leg movements. He then had some of the Rockettes come to his rented Manhattan apartment for a few overnight studies causing a manager’s concern about what type of business he was running with these several sets of attractive young women coming for the night. Night time sleep recordings were unheard of then and sounded sort of like a cover for other reasons for overnight women. As always when he asked a question about sleep he did it in style. Its hard to remember that he was trained in basic psychoanalyses at a major center for that approach to Psychiatry after World War II, his embrace of science and sleep in a sense liberated him but also all of us to see sleep differently than the world of analyses and dreams. We will all much miss his foresight, and also his sense of the humorous ironies of life.
Richard P. Allen, PhD
Johns Hopkins Medicine

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Dr. Dement (everybody called him Bill) was a visionary, a genius, and a friend. He and I grew up in different worlds. He in psychiatry, and I in pulmonary and critical care. He had the wisdom to know that sleep was multidisciplinary and encouraged me to put together the first edition of Principles and Practice of Sleep Medicine. Without him there would have been no field of sleep medicine.
Meir Kryger, MD, FRCP(C)
Yale School of Medicine

 

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Very saddened by the news. A great loss indeed! William Dement is considered the father of sleep medicine and the foremost figure promoting sleep health worldwide. He had been very supportive of all my sleep related activities over the years. I shall miss him very much. May his soul rest in peace. Bill Dement’s legacy and contributions in sleep medicine will remain forever with us like a big bubble of energy bursting through all obstacles shining an eternal light in all corners of this planet. His contributions in our field will remain imperishable, unvanquished and everlasting.
Sudhansu Chokroverty, MD, FRCP, FACP
New Jersey Neuroscience Institute at JFK Medical Center

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When I was born, REM sleep had already been discovered. This always made me think of Bill Dement as a Father of Sleep, but when I first met him at the annual congress in the US, approximately 25 years ago, I saw a friendly and bright person always available for discussion and sharing ideas. Since then, I have regularly seen him at the annual congress and all the way until the end he participated in all academic activities with enthusiasm. For me he was and will remain a giant standing high for science. A great example for all younger generations. I am sure his name will remain unforgotten.
Raffaele Ferri, MD
Oasi Research Institute IRCCS, Troina (Italy)

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I was fortunate to meet with Dr. Dement and Dr. Strohl in 2005 in Berlin at the WASM meeting.

Fang Han, MD
Peking People’s Hospital

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World Sleep Society recognizes Dr. Dement (Bill) for his visionary leadership. He was the first spokesperson of our awareness World Sleep Day program, which today has reached over 75 countries and thousands of activities. He helped transform our sleep community by changing the lives of millions of people around the Earth. In his video created in 2008, he predicted “everyone needs to understand how important sleep is and how healthy sleep is important for healthy life. In every country of the world there will be events to celebrate sleep.” His vision is now a reality.
Allan O’Bryan
Executive Director, World Sleep Society

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Read even more about Dr. Dement’s incredible impact:

>> Read AASM’s tribute.

> Learn more about Dr. Dement’s impact on sleep.

> Read the memorial tributes for fellow forefather of sleep medicine, Dr. Christian Guilleminault.

 

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