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Memoir
William A. Lewis
Regent's Proceedings 658
Regent's Proceedings 658
Professor and former Associate Dean William B. Lewis will retire from active faculty status as of May 31, 1986, after a prolific career as
artist/teacher and administrator.
Educated at Grand Rapids Junior College and The University of Michigan, he received a degree in design from the College of Architecture in 1948. Joining The University of Michigan faculty in 1957, Professor Lewis was appointed Professor of Art in 1964, and was appointed Associate Dean in the former College of Architecture and Design, serving from 1967-74.
In 1974, when the School of Art was partitioned from the College of Architecture, Professor Lewis was appointed Associate Dean in the School
of Art from 1974-76. Tireless in his search for the very best undergraduate students, he initiated exemplary recruitment and admissions procedures, which are still in use today. His extensive administrative activities included distinguished service as vice president on the accreditation board of the National Association of Schools of Art and Design, 1971-75.
During his years at Michigan, Professor Lewis distinguished himself as a teacher of unusual dedication. His rapport with students and parents was extraordinary. Creative and resourceful, with a strong sense of civic responsibility, Professor Lewis taught aqueous media and painting. Twice a Rackham grant recipient, Professor Lewis conducted major research on the Civil War, developing a suite of paintings culminating in a show at The University of Michigan Museum of Art, "The Last Years of the Civil War."
A productive, practicing artist, Professor Lewis represented a link between the School of Art and the Ann Arbor community. He worked for many years in support of the Ann Arbor Artists' Association, the Ann Arbor Potters' Guild, the United Way, the Blood Donors Association, and the Faculty Women's Club. In 1958 Professor Lewis received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from his alma mater, Grand Rapids Junior College. The Regents now acknowledge the contribution of this distinguished artist/teacher and administrator by naming William B. Lewis Professor Emeritus of Art.