About Lewis Thomas
Lewis Thomas (1913–1993) was an American physician, author, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher. His classic book, The Lives of a Cell, won the National Book Award in 1974. He earned a bachelor’s degree at Princeton and a doctorate in medicine in 1937. He went on to become professor of pediatric research at the University of Minnesota, chairman of the departments of pathology and medicine, and also dean at the New York University—Bellevue Medical Center, chairman of the Department of Pathology and dean at Yale Medical School, and president of the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.