LEWIS ALEXANDER MORROW

1944 - 2020

MORROW, Lewis Alexander (Alex) Of Wellesley, July 29, 2020. He conveyed his passion for engineering and for civics, ethics, and conscientious use of technology throughout his career as an engineer and teacher. His natural curiosity and enthusiasm for learning followed him throughout his life. Alex was born January 12, 1944 in Bryn Mawr, PA, the son of Percival and Burquin (Hatch) Morrow. He was a graduate of Trinity College class of 1966. He worked as a software engineer, starting at IBM where his work included chairing the ANSI APL standard, and editing the ISO APL standard. For this he received the ACM Iverson Award named after his mentor Ken Iverson, which was a great honor for him. Later he became Vice President of Strategic Relations at Open Software Foundation and then Vice President of the Integrated Products Group at Lotus Development Corp, where he later became a Fellow. At IBM's Watson Research Center, he oversaw the development of a Linux-based wristwatch and a privacy-protecting network security system. In 1999, he received the honor of IBM Fellow. After retiring from IBM in 2009, Alex eagerly joined Olin College of Engineering as a distinguished research scientist. He was grateful to be part of the Olin community where he taught computer networking classes, led SCOPE capstone projects and campus activities, and worked with Blind Sailing International to engineer sailing devices and software that assists vision-impaired sailors during competitions. Alex was passionate about everything he came across. He approached life with enthusiasm and optimism. He loved to engage with everyone he met about their passions and share his wide breadth of knowledge. He treated people of all ages and backgrounds as equals and kept his boyish curiosity and good humor well into his senior years. He will be remembered for countless things, including his wonderful french fries, his puns that he laughed at harder than anyone, his bedtime readings in translation from French Asterix books, the napkin drawings he left in his sons' lunch bags, and the blueberry pie that instantly won over his future wife. He loved being in nature, and he regularly brought his family to his grandfather's hometown in Maine. He is survived by his wife, Mary; three sons: Avery and his wife Astia, Ryan, and Sam; his brother John and his wife Cathy; three cousins: Rob, Doug, and Jeanie, and their extended families. Donations to Community Boating, Inc. of Boston are welcome. At a safer time, Alex's family will organize a celebration of his life.

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