Dr. William Longmire Jr.

Dr. William Longmire Jr., a founder of the University of California, Los Angeles, medical school and a pioneering surgeon, has died, according to the university. He was 89.

Dr. Longmire died May 16 from cancer, UCLA spokeswoman Roxanne Moster said.

" He was an extraordinarily successful, truly internationally known surgeon regarded by just about everyone as being seen as the best in the world, " said Dr. Timothy Miller, a plastic surgeon at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA who trained under Dr. Longmire.

" It would be probably impossible to fully explain or to describe his impact on surgery and on surgical education, " Miller said.

Dr. Longmire came to Los Angeles in 1948 as the first chairman of surgery at UCLA. He served in that position until 1976, then continued to practice medicine at UCLA and became professor emeritus in 1984.

Born in Sapulpa, Okla., Dr. Longmire graduated from the University of Oklahoma and Johns Hopkins Medical School. He maintained his father ' s family medicine practice in Sapulpa for two years before starting his surgical training in Baltimore.

He developed a number of operations while at Johns Hopkins and was part of the first surgical team to successfully perform the " Baby Blue " operation, a procedure that allowed infants with a severe heart deformity to live a normal life, UCLA said.

Dr. Longmire is survived by his wife, Sarah Jane Cornelius of Baltimore, daughters Sarah Jane Longmire-Cook and Gil Longmire, and three grandchildren.