William Leslie MacVane Jr., M.D. (June 12, 1915 – August 1, 2010) was an American surgeon and politician. MacVane assisted in the first open heart surgery performed in Maine in 1959 and served as the mayor of Portland, Maine, for one term in 1971. Biography Early life MacVane was born on State Street in Portland, Maine, to parents, Dr. William L. MacVane Sr. and Bertha May Achorn. He attended Hebron Academy, a college preparatory school in Hebron, Maine. MacVane's interest in medicine began in his teens, when he underwent a mastoidectomy. The doctors asked MacVane to accompany them on their rounds during his recovery. MacVane went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Williams College in Massachusetts and a medical degree from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore. Surgical career Following medical school, he was an intern and then assistant resident in surgery at Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore. During World War II, Dr. MacVane served as an Army Officer in the 61st Portable Surgical Unit. He was stationed in the Philippines and Japan during and after the war. MacVane was a recipient of the Bronze Star for performing "major surgery under adverse conditions." After World War II, MacVane was honorably discharged from the Army in 1946 as a Major. He returned to Maine, becoming the first surgical resident at Maine General Hospital in Portland. Additionally, MacVane became an attending surgeon at other hospitals in Maine, including Portland City Hospital, the Maine Medical Center, Mercy Hospital and Togus V.A. Hospital. He briefly left Maine for two years in the early 1950s. He worked as both a thoracic surgery resident at the V.A. Hospital in Oteen, North Carolina, and a thoracic surgery fellow at George Washington University Hospital in Washington, D.C., from 1953 until 1955. He once again returned to Maine in 1955, where he practiced thoracic and general surgery. He assisted Dr. Emerson Drake in Maine's first open heart surgery, which was performed at Maine Medical Center in 1959. He continued to work as a thoracic surgeon and consultant in hospitals throughout the state. MacVane also served on the executive committee of Mercy Hospital for eighteen years. MacVane worked for the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Hospitals for ten years after retiring from his surgical career. He surveyed and accredited hospitals throughout the United States, the Middle East and Europe. Political career MacVane was elected to the Portland, Maine