Evening star., 1923-06-01
". N. Lewis, Ne,o G. ". U. Head,
To Take Office as Summer Wanes

William Mather Lewis, elected pres
ident of George Washington Univer-
sfty yesterday afternoon by the
board of trustees of the university,
is expected to take office late in the
summer or in the early fall DR..
Howard Lincoln Hodgkins. who has
been acting president of the univer-
sity since the resignation of William
Miller Collier, United States ambas-
sador to Chile, will remain as dean OF
the department of arts and sciences
after Mr.. Lewis enters upon the presl-
dency.
Elliott Goodwin. president OF the
Chamber of Commerce of the united
States, was elected member OF the
board of trustees, to fill the vacancy
caused by the death of Judge Martin
"A. Knapp.
Board Members Reelected.
The following members OF the
board. whose terms had expired. were
reelected: John Joy Edison. Wllllam
James Flather. John B. Larner, Abram
Lisner, Douglas Putnam Birnie, wal
ter r. Tuckerman, William 5. WASH
burn and Henry White.
John b. Larner was reelected cnalr- :
man of the board of trustees ana
Archibald Hopkins vice chairman
The other members of the board are
n. Langdon Burchell, George Fleming
Moore, Gilbert Grosvenor, Harry cas-
sell Davis, Theodore w. Noyes. John
Barton Payne. Henry Cleveland Per-
kins, Charles H. Woodruff, Charles /.
Corby, Louis Hertle, Thomas Smell
Hopkins, William Bruce King, Charles
Carroll Glover. jr.; Ernest Lawton
Thurston and Harry Wardman.
Lewis Widely known.
The election of Mr.. Lewis to head
the university. members of the board
feel. should mean remarkable ad-
I, 1,s,I xr-fr n
perience as an educator and as an
administrator. He is a clear and log
teal thinker. convincing speaker,
and is widely known throughout the
country in educational, business and
official circles. He combines the
qualifications of the student and man
of letters with those of the active
business man and administrator.
Mr.. Lewis is native of Michigan.
He was born in Howell, March "a,
(Farrand) Lewis. He is a graduate
of Lake Forest Ull) College, Ehere
he received the degree of hF in
1900 During the next three tars
he was an instructor and student at
Illinois College. taking his degree or
AN. in 1902 at that institution. In
1908 he returned to Lake Forest Col
lege as an instructor and remained
there until 1906. In that year he
was chosen headmaster of the Lake
Found school Small.
Lake Forest Academy was school
for boys operating on the EngllSh
house system, with a capacity of l45
or $50 pupils. When Mr.. Lewis took
charge. however, the attendance had
dwindled to 45. He tackled his new
job with enthusiasm and in the seven
wears he remained as headmaSter or
the school. built up the institution
until it's attendance had reached the
maximum.
In 1913 Mr.. Lewis went abroad to
study educational methods. He was
in England, France, Germany and
Russia, and was given full oppor-
tunity to observe the educational sys-
TENS in those countries. He was in
Europe for approximately year and
a half leaving Russia only a few
weeks before the world war broke
out. He returned to Lake Forest, Ill,
and became mayor of that place, serv-
ing until 1917. He had been president
of the board of education or Lake
Forest from 1911 to 1913, and he
served as a member of the board OF
review in 1915.
Worked for Preparedness.
Mr. Lewis gave much of his time
prior to the entrance of the United
States into the war to work in the
interest of greater preparedness Tor
the war which seemed inevitable.
When this country did declare war.
Senator George Wharton Pepper of
Pennsylvania and other prominent
men conceived the idea of organizing
the great patriotic societies and or
ganizationS of the country so as to
bring about the best results in the
time of stress.
The national committee of Pa
triotic Societies was formed. MT
Lewis was asked to come from Lake
Forest to take the position of execu-
tive secretary = the administrative
office-of the new committee He
held this office until the close of the
war. when the committee was dis
banded Much important work was
ACCOMPLISHED through the committee
in war times. For example. on the
day the draft was put into effect, the
committee was called upon to formu-
late plans and organize, through its
rnnst stituent members DatriOtiC eXer-