William Dewitt *66

William DeWitt, the C. Carlisle Tippit Professor of Biology at Williams College, died May 3, 2013, at his home. He was 73.

He graduated from Williams in 1961, and earned a Ph.D. in biology from Princeton in 1966. After postdoctoral research at MIT, he became an assistant professor at Williams in 1967. Promoted to associate professor in 1971 and to full professor in 1977, he became the Tippit Professor in 1983.

DeWitt often was chairman of the biology department (1972-73, 1977-81, 1991-93, and 2000-01). He was elected to many college committees, particularly the Committee on Appointments and Promotion, on which he served as the faculty representative for the sciences from 1987 to 1993. He taught cellular and molecular biology and biochemistry.

Supported by the NIH, he researched the hemoglobin synthesis in amphibians during metamorphosis. He also studied the production of antibiotic proteins in amphibian skin, and more recently began a project to use molecular strategies to augment hydrogen production in photosynthetic bacteria. In addition to numerous articles, he wrote three biology textbooks; the latest, in 1989, was Human Biology: Form, Function, and Adaptation.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Lou; and two children.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.