PITTSBURGH — A memorial service for Dr. Thomas Starzl, who pioneered liver transplant surgery in the 1960s, has been set for what would have been his 91st birthday.

A spokesman for the University of Pittsburgh says the service will be held Saturday at 1 p.m. at Heinz Chapel Memorial Chapel on campus. Starzl was a distinguished service professor of surgery at the university.

He died over the weekend at his home in Pittsburgh.

Starzl performed the world’s first liver transplant in 1963 and the world’s first successful liver transplant in 1967. He pioneered kidney transplantation from cadavers, and was a leading researcher of anti-rejection drugs.

Since Starzl’s first successful liver transplant, thousands of lives have been saved by similar operations.