Dean Nancy Andrews, MD, PhD, alerted the School of Medicine today to the death of Herbert Otto Sieker, MD, professor emeritus of Medicine. Dr. Sieker passed away on June 11, 2016.
Dr. Sieker arrived at Duke in 1948 as a graduate of Washington University School of Medicine and a new intern in Internal Medicine. Apart from a short stint as a Captain in the US Air Force in the early 1950s, when he worked on spacesuit development at Wright-Patterson Field, he remained at Duke until he retired in 1990.
A noted and highly respected pulmonologist and cardiopulmonary physiologist, he served as the first Chief of the Allergy and Respiratory Disease Division. After stepping down as Chief in 1979, he remained a strong advocate of the house staff and fellowship teaching programs and a highly sought-after consultant in Allergy and Pulmonary Diseases for complex patients throughout the Southeastern U.S.
He was a true master clinician educator who taught many of us the practice of pulmonary medicine.
Mary Klotman, MD
He also served as Assistant Dean for Coordination of Educational Affairs and was part of the committee that created a new curriculum in 1966 to provide the opportunity for third year medical students to pursue an entire year of research.
In addition to his Duke activities, he served as a consultant to the Durham and Fayetteville Veterans Affairs Hospitals and the US Army Hospital at Fort Bragg.
Memorial donations may be made to Herbert O. Sieker, MD, Endowment Fund, in care of Erica Kitchen, Duke Health Development and Alumni Affairs, PO Box 90616, Durham, NC 27708 or St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 215 Ann Street, Beaufort, NC 281516, or Crystal Coast Hospice House, PO Box 640, Newport, NC 28570.