William C. Dement

July 29, 1928 — Wenatchee, Washington, USA

William Charles Dement was a pioneering US sleep researcher and founder of the Sleep Research Center, the world's first sleep laboratory, at Stanford University. He is a leading authority on sleep, sleep deprivation and the diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders such as sleep apnea and narcolepsy. For this pioneering work in a previously uncharted field, he is sometimes referred to as the father of sleep medicine.