Physician Henry Heimlich received his medical degree from Cornell Medical School and did his initial work in New York City. In 1977, he transferred to Xavier University in Cincinnati, where he became professor of advanced clinical sciences. Heimlich's main field of study is disorders of the alimentary tract.

He published books on thoracic and stomach surgery. But it was his procedure for saving a choking victim developed in the mid-1970's that made his name a household word. By applying sudden pressure to the abdomen by various means, a rescuer can force air upward through the windpipe, thereby dislodging the obstruction and reopening the airway.

Although it is widely used on choking victims, Heimlich has battled with the medical establishment over whether the Heimlich maneuver should be used on drowning victims instead of mouth to mouth resusitation. In 1994, he traveled to China to work on a controversial experimental treatment for AIDS. But Heimlich has even loftier objectives. "My ultimate goal," he wrote in Who's Who in America, "is to avoid needless death and promote well-being for the largest number of people by establishing a philosophy that will eliminate war."