William C. DeVries (Dec 19, 1943 - ) is an American cardiothoracic surgeon, who performed the first successful permanent artificial heart implantation (on Barney Clark), using the Jarvik-7 model.

DeVries was the son of a Dutch immigrant father who served as a surgeon in the U.S. Navy during World War II. He was born at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. His father, Henry DeVries, died in combat in 1944 aboard the destroyer USS Kalk during the Battle of Hollandia.[1] DeVries became an Eagle Scout in his youth and a brother of the Sigma Chi Fraternity in college. DeVries was on the cover of Time magazine on Dec 10, 1984. He attended Duke University.