Frederick "Fred" LEWIS

Frederick Lewis

Fred’s 2011 Autobiography

Following graduation from Staples I attended Amherst College. My choice of chemistry as my major was influenced by Sputnik and by Mr. Berger, the AP Chemistry teacher at Staples. I found greater enjoyment in history and American studies courses, but ultimately warmed to the creative aspects of experimental science. Amherst was not easy – freshman year has been aptly described as academic boot camp. Amherst made me question my personal values, which became increasingly liberal. My most memorable Amherst experience was attending a major address given by John F. Kennedy at the dedication of the new Robert Frost Library in October 1963. It was Kennedy’s last public appearance prior to his assassination several weeks later. My major diversions at Amherst were singing in an octet and dating women from Smith and Holyoke. On a road trip with my octet to Wells College my freshman year I met my future wife, Susan Rice (Lewis).

Following Amherst I entered the graduate program in chemistry at the University of Rochester. I shared a house near campus with an Amherst classmate and two Oberlin graduates. We had a great time together. My research went well and I

was able to complete my Ph.D. in organic chemistry and move on to a postdoctoral research position at Columbia in early 1968. Susan and I were married in May of that year and enjoyed a year living frugally in Manhattan. My parents were still living in Westport at that time and so we were able to spend weekends with them.

After a year at Columbia I applied for academic jobs and was fortunate to be offered one at Northwestern. Susan also found a job to her liking at Northwestern, in the Special Collections Department of the University Library. Evanston is a great place to live and is far more diverse than Westport in the 60s. We have a house near campus and I walk to work. Both of our children graduated from Evanston Township High School, have undergraduate and graduate degrees in music performance, and have music faculty positions at large state universities in the midwest where they teach and perform.

This is my 42^nd year at Northwestern. By the usual standards, I have had a successful career as a teacher and scientist. I still enjoy teaching and running a research laboratory. I have been able to travel frequently to conferences in Europe and Asia and have made close friends in several countries; although my contemporaries on both continents have been required to retire. In addition to travel, I enjoy the fine and performing arts, and gardening. I retired from racing small sailboats some time ago.

Fred’s Update (2021)

As we began the decade following our 50^th reunion I was still fully engaged in teaching and scientific research. I negotiated a phased retirement with Northwestern which allowed me to concentrate on completing research projects conducted with collaborators at Northwestern and in Israel and The Netherlands with research specialties in ultrafast laser spectroscopy, molecular structure determination, and molecular dynamics calculations. These projects focused on determining the electronic properties of molecular wires including DNA which

were synthesized in my lab.

Once these research projects were finished and the results published, I attended research conferences in my field for the final time, closed my labs, and retired after 48 years on the Northwestern faculty. Susan and I then began the process of reducing our possessions, selling the only house we had ever owned, and moving into our retirement apartment. Like many of the rest of you in the Staples class of 1961, our plans for increasing time for family (including two young grandchildren) and travel have been put on hold by the pandemic. We look forward to the post-pandemic decade.

Lewis Family: Susan, Fred, Kate, Gordon & wife, Nora--2010