Search all obituaries on iBerkshires.com:
 William DeWitt, 73
 May 08, 2013
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williams College professor William DeWitt, 73, of Bulkley Street died Friday, May 3, 2013, at his home.
Born in Washington, D.C., on Nov. 28, 1939, son of Army Brig. Gen. Calvin DeWitt Jr. and Marjorie Anderson DeWitt, he attended elementary and secondary schools throughout the United States and in Germany, graduating from St. Stephen's School in Alexandria, Va., in 1957. He received his bachelor's degree from Williams College in 1961.
After attending graduate school in biology at Princeton University and earning his doctorate in 1966, he did postdoctoral research at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, working with noted biologist Vernon Ingram on the developmental regulation of hemoglobin synthesis.
Professor DeWitt joined the faculty of Williams as assistant professor in 1967. After spending a year as a visiting assistant professor at MIT, he was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 1971, and to professor in 1977. He was appointed the C. Carlisle Tippit Professor of Biology in 1983.
He served as chairman of the Biology Department on numerous occasions, including from 1972-1973, 1977-1981, 1991-1993 and from 2000-2001. He was elected to a number of college committees including the Faculty Steering Committee and the Committee on Appointments and Promotion, on which he served from 1987 to 1993 as the faculty representative from the sciences.
He taught a variety of courses in cellular and molecular biology and in biochemistry. Professor DeWitt also did research, supported by several grants from the National Institute of Health, on hemoglobin synthesis in amphibians, with the aim of describing the molecular triggers involved in the expression of hemoglobin types during metamorphosis. He also studied the production of antibiotic proteins in amphibian skin and, more recently, undertook a project designed to use molecular strategies to augment hydrogen production in photosynthetic bacteria. He published a number of articles in professional journals on his research and wrote three textbooks, Biology of the Cell: An Evolutionary Approach and Biology of the Cell: Laboratory Explorations, both published in 1977, and Human Biology: Form, Function and Adaptation, published in 1989.
He leaves his wife, the former Mary Lou Brady; a son, Tyler DeWitt; a daughter, Erica DeWitt; his brother Calvin DeWitt III of Seaford, Va.; and his sister, Marjorie Robertson of Alexandria, Va.
FUNERAL NOTICE — A memorial service for professor DeWitt will take place on Saturday, May 25, at 11 a.m. at St. John's Episcopal Church, 35 Park St. Reception to follow at the Williams College Faculty House.
A private burial service for professor DeWitt will be held. In lieu of flowers or other gifts, the family requests that donations in his honor be made to either the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation or the Yellowstone Park Foundation. Flynn & Dagnoli-Montagna Home for Funerals is in charge of arrangements.
Williams College invites his colleagues and students to offer condolences or post memories here.
Mary Lu [Lough?] I am DEVASTATED by Bill's death. He was my all-time favorite jokester and confident. I was the first person he 'confessed' to when he said he finally found the right gal
and that he was actually going to marry her !! He was such a dear friend. I am weeping for us all. | | from: Sue Vaill Bonner | on: 05-20-2014 |
|
|
MEMBER SIGN IN
