Good afternoon. My name is Bill More. I am a retired faculty member of
Industrial engineering. Today is friday
january 22nd, 2010.
I'm interviewing dr William Lewis. Bill Lewis who is a started industrial
engineering, we designed, etcetera for the A. S. U. R. A history video
history project
namely William Lewis, William E. Lewis.
I retired from a issue in 19 Actually 2008 May of 2008, June actually 2008
After serving 42.5 years at ASU.
For the most part, it was a good 42 a half years so I need a little bit of
time that that I wasn't happy, never regretted taking a job straight out
of Northwestern, straight out of graduate school here at the issue and
that's for the most part of the state. It's been very enjoyable time. It's
only been a few times I haven't been but I consider very enjoy. I still
enjoy claiming that I'm from a shoe. I still wear my issue logo shirts
probably I will until they wear out.
And Bill, just to start with, could we have a little bit of information
about your early life? Where were you barking and raised? I was born in
Hagerstown Maryland Uh in September of 2000 and 2004 of 1940. I lived
there until 1950 When my mother and father uh moved out to a little town
called Woodbine, which was about 30 miles west of Baltimore and lived
there and went to school there. That's where I met my wife, she and I were
in school together and
started dating in the junior year of high school and got married in my
freshman year of college. And I went to Hopkins for a bachelor's degree in
industrial engineering. I started off in electrical engineering was taking
I. E. Courses only it seemed like I thought what am I doing? And so I
switched to industrial engineer.
I spent four years there. Very good four years. It was very enjoyable.
Hopkins was a small school at that time. It still is a small school
compared to a shoe but by far But it was only like 400 freshmen In the
Class 200 pre med, 200 engineers. That was about all the work at Hopkins.
And So I got my bachelor's degree. Hopkins in 1962. Left there in 62 to
go to northwestern. I was given a N. D. A. Fellowship at northwestern for
three years, spent 3.5 years there getting my master's and PhD in
industrial engineering. Uh primarily emphasis in operations research and
computing activities.
Dissertation was really theoretical computer science with with gill
cruelly whose of all things a psychologist. Um but he was very very
interested in atomic theory and that's what we were doing. Atomic theory
Came out here in 19. Mhm. Well 60 December 65 is when my contract says.
But really for the fall of 66, spring of 66. Excuse me and joined the
industrial engineering program and been here ever since. So that's sort of
in a nutshell, Married have five homemade Children. And if they had over
the period of time, 30, 40 years, about 20 some foster Children. I
currently have two, especially Children living at home. Derek who is blind
, cerebral palsy confined to a wheelchair and clint, who's a navy pima
indian uh philosophical syndrome point. And they're still homeless. The
others are going, I got kids from Seattle area to D. C.
So they're all over the country. My baby daughter teaches at drury
University and my oldest son can't tell me what he does. He has to shoot
me at some point, he works for the state department officially. So who
knows? I hear a lot of people work for the state department, whether they
do or not about the other kids, what is it doing? Uh Let's see. Uh mary
Sue. Uh My my middle daughter is the 911 operator in Redmond Washington.
Lead 911 operator. My oldest daughter, Angela is a
childcare development person in uh in Missouri. Out of Columbia Boone
county of course, or grand out of University of Columbia in Columbia
University of Missouri in Columbia. And then my youngest boy rob works
here today, asyou