Malcolm Lewis ’67 | In Memoriam

Harvey Mudd College’s First Alumnus Trustee and Alumnus Chair of the Board

Malcolm Lewis ’67, internationally recognized expert in the design of energy-efficient buildings and past chair of the board of trustees of Harvey Mudd College, died Saturday October 13, 2012 at the age of 66.

Lewis became the first alumnus elected to the HMC board of trustees in 1973 and served on the board continuously for the next 39 years. In January 2012, he was elected chair of the board, the first alumnus to serve in this position.

“Having had the opportunity to know and serve on the board with many of the founding trustees, I feel like I carry a bit of their founding spirit,” Lewis said at the start of his term as chair. “Their commitment to taking risks to improve STEM education is one that I believe we want to always nurture–not settling for what is working, but challenging ourselves to evolve with the times to become even better at what we do.”

Lewis founded Constructive Technologies Group, Inc. (CTG), a consulting firm that provides support to building owners and designers to optimize the performance of new and existing buildings. Through his consulting work, Lewis educated architects, engineers, building owners, city planners and utility workers about sustainability, building comfort and building efficiency.

Well known for his expertise in the design of sustainable buildings, Lewis was active in the development of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building rating system. He served as a board member of the U.S. Green Building Council from 1997 to 2002, as chairman of the (LEED) Technical and Scientific Advisory Committee from 2001 to 2009, and as chairman of the LEED Technical Committee. In 2011, Lewis was named a LEED Fellow in the inaugural class of fellows. He oversaw more than 150 LEED-certified projects, and developed and delivered online training on energy efficiency and sustainability for multiple clients.

A registered professional in mechanical, electrical and civil engineering, Lewis served as the engineer of record for more than 25 million square feet of new construction and renovation projects for the public and private sectors. He managed sustainable design projects at a number of colleges and universities, and was the driving force behind the LEED certification of HMC’s Sontag Residence Hall and Hoch-Shanahan Dining Commons.

“I love working with buildings,” Lewis said at the start of the Hoch-Shanahan project in 2002. “They are very tangible, almost everyone lives and works in them, they consume a huge fraction of our energy and natural resources, and they last for a very long time. So it is important to make good decisions before they are built.”

In 2008, Lewis and his wife, Cynthia, endowed the Patton and Claire Lewis Fellowship in Engineering Professional Practice, which provides students with opportunities to be mentored by professional engineers. The fellowship is named in honor of his mother, Claire, and his father, Patton Lewis, a former HMC faculty member and professional engineer.

“There is a real art to engineering and solving problems that tends to get lost in the process of learning the analytical parts of engineering science,” Lewis said at the program launch in 2008. “The fellowship idea is a terrific way to draw the College out into the engineering sector, build bonds and enrich the lives of students.”

The Lewis Fellowship program emphasizes ethics, which Lewis described as very intentional: “It’s important to suffuse your work with values and ethical constructs that guide your decisions. We live in an era where technology has sometimes run amok and engineering should serve a higher pantheon of solving human problems. We have an obligation to apply our talents to meeting society’s needs.”

The HMC Alumni Association honored Lewis with its Lifetime Recognition Award in 2009. In September 2012, the HMC faculty awarded Lewis an honorary degree for his impressive contributions to the fields of engineering and science, specifically to the efficient design of buildings and communities. Malcolm was also awarded the Alumni Association’s Outstanding Alumni Award for 2013 which was presented to him on October 1, 2012.

Lewis held a bachelor of science degree from Harvey Mudd College, a diploma in Housing/Building/Planning from Bouwcentrum in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and a doctor of engineering from the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College.

Memories of Malcolm

Paul Steinberg

Colleague and friend

Malcolm was planning to write a book during the final year of his life. His central argument was that we need to get greener faster – that it is only by raising the bar for green innovation that we will achieve technological progress at the pace necessary for addressing today’s environmental challenges. Malcolm was a true visionary and a dear friend.

Jennifer Lindsay ’02

Fellow trustee

When I joined the Harvey Mudd Board of Trustees in 2009 at the tender age of 28, Malcolm was one of the few members with whom I instantly felt a connection. He had a way of putting people at ease, which was exactly what I needed that year to calm my nerves as both the youngest and newest member of the board. His warmth and cheerful manner made me feel welcome in a way that no other trustee did, and for that I am very thankful.

Wang Hong

Friend

I met Malcolm Lewis when he visited China in 2009. At that time, China’s green building was in its infancy. There were technical, personnel training and marketing difficulties to overcome. Malcolm visited because I and a small part of the firm believed young people in China were willing to engage in green building. Since then, the spirit and enthusiasm of Malcolm has promoted the green building progress of China.

Malcolm left us, but his spirit of enthusiasm will continue in China and continues to change the face of this country.

Brian J Boyle ’67

Classmate, Fellow Alumni Board Member, Friend and Admirer

As remarked repeatedly by all who knew him, Malcolm was truly a Great and Gentle Giant. Certainly he would disavow being a “giant brain” (during our first years the popular term for that new-fangled gadget, the computer) initially always claiming he was outclassed by his classmates — despite having one of the highest GPAs of us all. In reality he was merely being a careful, a thoughtful and ultimately a truly wise person who approached the problems and people of the world with a great brain, an even greater heart and the greatest of humility in all he did. At our ages it’s becoming all too frequent, but this year I’ve bid farewell to three of my heroes: Joe Platt, my father, and now — far to soon — my favorite Gentle Giant. Goodbye, Malcolm, you will be missed by many.

Doyle Eklund

Long time friend

Malcolm has been one of my very best friends since I met him for the first time in February of 1989. We met each other on the phone through a mutual friend and we agreed to meet in his office a few days later. During our meeting, he decided to engage my services in the area of business management. We developed an almost immediate bond that lasted all of these years. It was a bond that grew as we shared in some challenging events that year and over the next ten years.

I have always admired Malcolm immensely and through the years described him to others by telling them how extremely intelligent he is. I would tell them how he was a registered professional engineer in three different disciplines while reminding them that most engineers would be ecstatic to be registered in just one discipline. I would tell them of his positions as a member of the Board of Directors of three very impressive organizations: the World Green Building Counsel, the Orange County Rescue Mission, and the Harvey Mudd College and that he received his PhD in engineering from Dartmouth College. Then I would tell them how accomplished he was in his profession and how successful his company was and the many important projects he completed. Most importantly, I would tell them what a lovable and warm hearted man that he was and what a good friend he was to me.

Over the years Malcolm comes to mind often and one of those times is when I make coffee in the morning. We had the same brewing system, a coffee press, and I always seem to visualize him making coffee for us when we were visiting him and Cindy. I think that he comes to mind then because he was always such a gracious and attentive host, always wanting to make sure you were comfortable.

Although Malcolm wasn’t a golfer, he very much enjoyed the few times that we played together. The last time we played we spent some time in the golf course restaurant afterward and shared thoughts about life. Although I wasn’t ill, I told him that I was ready for the Lord to take me home and Malcolm was somewhat saddened at the remark. But I assured him that I wasn’t asking the Lord to come and get me but that if he wanted me, I was OK with it. The memory of that conversation was with me as I prayed last week. I thanked the Lord for receiving Malcolm to His side and that I knew Malcolm was welcomed with a big hug. It would have been the kind of warm hug that always came from Malcolm. Hugs that I will deeply miss!

There are many things that will forever warm my heart about Malcolm and I’m so grateful to both he and Cindy for the kindred spirit they shared with us. To Cindy, Holly, Geoffrey, and the rest of the family, thank you for your friendship, we love your so much and we express our deepest sympathy. Our thoughts and prayers will be for your strength, peace and comfort.

In the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, once again thank Him for His love for Malcolm and for all of us.