William Mather Lewis

{{Short description|American teacher, university president, politician and government official}}

{{redirect|William M. Lewis|the fish biologist|William M. Lewis, Senior}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix =

| name = William Mather Lewis

| honorific-suffix =

| image = William M. Lewis (11-7-23).jpg

| alt = Black and white photograph of man with short, wispy hair wearing circular glasses, necktie, suit, and overcoat

| caption = Lewis, 1923

| order =

| office = Mayor of Lake Forest, Illinois

| term_start = 1915

| term_end = 1917

| president =

| order2 =

| office2 = President of George Washington University

| term_start2 = 1923

| term_end2 = 1927

| predecessor2 = William Miller Collier

| successor2 = Cloyd H. Marvin

| office3 = President of Lafayette College

| term_start3 = 1927

| term_end3 = 1945

| predecessor3 = Donald B. Prentice (acting)

| successor3 = Ralph Cooper Hutchison

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{Birth date|1878|03|24}}

| birth_place = Howell, Michigan, U.S.

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1945|11|11|1878|03|24}}

| death_place = Colebrook, Connecticut, U.S.

| resting_place =

| resting_place_coordinates =

| party =

| spouse = {{marriage|Ruth Durand|1906}}

| children = 1

| parents =

| residence =

| education =

| alma_mater = {{plainlist|

}}

| occupation =

| profession =

| known_for =

| religion =

| signature =

| website =

}}

William Mather Lewis (March 24, 1878 – November 11, 1945) was an American teacher, university president, local politician, and a state and national government official. He was mayor of Lake Forest, Illinois from 1915 to 1917, President of George Washington University from 1923 to 1927 and the President of Lafayette College from 1927 to 1945.{{cite news|url=http://www.gwhatchet.com/2003/10/06/presidential-profiles/|title=Presidential Profiles|last=Bamberger|first=Miriam|date=October 6, 2003|work=GW Hatchet|access-date=August 23, 2011}}

Early life

Lewis was born in Howell, Michigan on March 24, 1878.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76996102/william-mather-lewis-67-dies-suddenly/ |title=William Mather Lewis, 67, Dies Suddenly at Hartford |date=1945-11-12 |page=2 |newspaper=The Morning Call |location=Allentown, PA |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2021-05-03}} His father was Rev. James Lewis, minister of the Howell church from 1875 to 1882,{{cite book|title=The Christian Century|volume=55|year=1938|publisher=Christian Century Foundation|page=1166}} and his mother was Mary Farrand.{{cite book|title=Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society|volume=16|year=1923|publisher=Illinois State Historical Society|page=195}}

Education

Lewis attended Knox College. Lewis received an A.B. from Lake Forest College in 1900,{{cite news|title=Elected University Head.; W.M. Lewis Is Chosen by George Washington Board.|date=June 1, 1923|work=New York Times}} and an A.M. from Illinois College in 1902. Later, he would receive his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin.{{cite news|title=Society and Entertainments|date=May 24, 1913|work=Chicago Daily Tribune}}{{cite news|title=News of Chicago Clubs and the Society World|date=July 1, 1914|work=Chicago Daily Tribune}} He was a member of Phi Delta Theta.{{Cite news |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/76996475/william-mather-lewis-dies-at-wheel-of-ca/ |title=William Mather Lewis Dies at Wheel of Car In Hartford, Conn. |date=1945-11-12 |page=14 |newspaper=The Morning Call |location=Allentown, PA |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2021-05-03}}{{cite book|last=Sanua|first=Marianne Rachel|title=Here's to our fraternity: one hundred years of Zeta Beta Tau, 1898-1998|year=1998|publisher=UPNE|isbn=0-87451-879-2|page=140}}

Career

=Lake Forest=

Lewis was briefly principal of Whipple Academy, Jacksonville (a preparatory school of Illinois College),{{cite book|title=The School Journal|volume=71|year=1905|publisher=E.L. Kellogg & Co.|page=604}} before returning to Lake Forest to be head of the department of oratory and debate at Lake Forest Academy for three years. In 1905 he became headmaster at the academy, resigning in 1913 to travel and study in Europe.{{cite news|title=New Head Master at Lake Forest|date=November 18, 1905|work=Chicago Daily Tribune}} He was mayor of Lake Forest, Illinois from 1915 to 1917.{{cite book|title=New York State education|volume=24|date=October 1936|publisher=New York State Teachers Association|page=61}}

=State and national roles=

Lewis was field secretary of the Navy League of the United States in the Midwest in 1915.{{cite book|title=Michigan alumnus|volume=23|year=1917|publisher=University of Michigan. Alumni Association|page=185}}

During World War I, he was executive secretary of the National Committee of Patriotic Societies.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,846096,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101125044132/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,846096,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=November 25, 2010|title=Education: Education Notes, Mar. 14, 1927|date=March 14, 1927|magazine=Time|access-date=August 23, 2011}} Lewis was director of the savings division of the United States Treasury Department and chief of educational service for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce from 1921 to 1923.

Because of his earlier work during World War I, Lewis was appointed by Governor Arthur James as the director of the Pennsylvania Selective Service System (organising "the draft"), which he did without pay from September 1940 until he stepped down in November 1941 since it detracted from his duties as president of Lafayette College.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Y7pRAAAAIBAJ&pg=4352,4777543|title=State's Draft Head Resigns|date=November 14, 1941|work=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette|access-date=August 24, 2011}}

=University career=

Lewis was President of George Washington University from June 1923 to 1927, and President of Lafayette College from March 1927 until retiring in July 1945, shortly before his death.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1945/11/12/archives/dr-wm-lewis-67-college-exhead-president-of-lafayette-for-18-years.html|title=Dr. W.M. Lewis, 67, College Ex-Head; President of Lafayette for 18 Years Dies--Held Same Post at George Washington U.|date=November 12, 1945|work=New York Times|access-date=August 24, 2011}} He was succeeded by Ralph Cooper Hutchison.{{cite news|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=G5UtAAAAIBAJ&pg=6152,4946907|title=Hutchison Elected Lafayette President|date=May 12, 1945|work=Reading Eagle|access-date=August 24, 2011}}

=Other=

Lewis was a contributor to the Encyclopædia Britannica. He was awarded a patent for a milk bottle holder in 1918.{{cite book |publisher=United States Patent and Trademark Office |title=Official Gazette of the United States Patent Office, Volume 255 |date=1919 |url={{Google books|6_uSPrO-i28C|page=108|plainurl=yes}} |page=108}}

Personal life

He married Ruth Durand in Lake Forest on December 20, 1906{{cite news|title=In the Society World|date=November 30, 1906|work=Chicago Daily Tribune}} and they had a daughter, Sarah Durand Lewis Betts Hale (1907–2006).{{cite web|url=http://www.colebrookhistoricalsociety.org/PDF%20Images/Colebrook%20Historical%20Society,%20Inc..pdf|title=The Colebrook Historical Society, Inc.|year=2008|access-date=August 23, 2011}}{{cite news|title=Hale, Sarah Lewis|date=October 4, 2006|work=Hartford Courant|url=https://www.courant.com/2006/10/04/hale-sarah-lewis/|access-date=August 24, 2011}}{{cite book|title=The Smith College monthly|volume=15|year=1908|page=396}} They had a summer home in Colebrook, Connecticut, where they later lived.

They spent more than a year travelling and studying in Europe, including England and Berlin, from June 1913 to October 1914. This enabled Lewis to obtain a Ph.D. from the University of Berlin.

Death

Lewis died from a heart attack while driving near his home on November 11, 1945. His widow Ruth died in 1953.{{cite news|title=Mrs. William M. Lewis|date=May 29, 1953|work=New York Times}}

Books

Lewis, William Mather. Selected Readings from the Most Popular Novels. Hinds and Noble, 1903.
Lewis, William Mather. The Voices of Our Leaders. Hinds, Hayden & Elderedge, Inc., 1917[https://archive.org/details/voiceofourleader00lewi The Voice of Our Leaders] on Archive.org
Lewis, William Mather. From a College Platform: Addresses. Dial Press, Inc., 1932.

References

External links

[http://encyclopedia.gwu.edu/gwencyclopedia/index.php?title=Lewis%2C_William_Mather Lewis, William Mather], The George Washington University and Foggy Bottom Historical Encyclopedia
[http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tc&CISOPTR=15125&REC=17 1920s flyer advertising a talk by Lewis at the Lyceum], University of Iowa library
[http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/tc&CISOPTR=42497&REC=2 Biography of Lewis by Editors National Press Syndicate], University of Iowa library
[http://cdm.lafayette.edu/cdm4/results.php?CISOOP1=exact&CISOFIELD1=CISOSEARCHALL&CISOROOT=/cap&CISOBOX1=Lewis%2C+William+Mather%2C+1878-1945 Images of Lewis from Lafayette College]

{{Succession box

| title= President of George Washington University

| before= Cloyd H. Marvin

| after= William Miller Collier

| years= 1923-1927

}}

{{Succession box

| title= President of Lafayette College

| before= John Henry MacCracken

| after= Ralph Cooper Hutchison

| years= 1927–1945

}}