FOCUS ON FACULTY
Heartfelt Program Celebrates the Life of Former Mandel Instructor, Robert Lewis
On October 9, 2005, a heartfelt program was held in remembrance of Robert Laurence Lewis, a former Mandel Center instructor. This celebration of Professor Lewis' life included reminiscences from members of Cuyahoga Community College, where he was the school's founding board president and then later a professor.
Mr. Lewis' partners and staff members from Ulmer Berne LLP, where he was employed for 46 years and served as managing partner for nine years, also participated in the celebration with remembrances of his high professional standards and his zest for life.
Among other things, participants touched on Mr. Lewis' love of Greek mythology, including his family's several trips (and even residence for a brief period of time) in Greece.
Krissy Dietrich Gallagher, a graduate of the Mandel Center, also spoke of her experiences with Professor Lewis as her instructor and mentor. Friends and relatives concluded the celebration with their own personal recollections of Mr. Lewis as a devoted father, grandfather and uncle, as well as a dear friend.
As a child, Mr. Lewis and his brother Stanley created a song and dance duo that appeared on the road in some of the biggest vaudeville acts of the era. After seven years of this lifestyle, Robert Lewis entered the first grade at the age of 12. Clearly, his late educational start did not hold Robert back. He attended Hamilton College in New York and majored in ancient languages. He then went on to Columbia University's Law School and served in the U.S. military during World War II. Mr. Lewis then embarked upon his legal career and extensive service as a trustee of nonprofit organizations and civic leader. He drew upon his widely varying experience in teaching MAND 489, Trusteeship: The Governance of Nonprofit Organizations at the Mandel Center. Professor Lewis' exemplary teaching was recognized when he received the Mandel Center Faculty Member of the Year award in 2003.
Mr. Lewis is remembered with deep affection and admiration by not only his five children, eight grandchildren and loving wife, but by the people and lives he has touched at Case, Tri-C, Ulmer Berne, and beyond.
