Lawrence University Professor Emeritus Allen Crawford West passed away on Oct. 30, 2025. He was 95 and thought to be the oldest surviving professor emeritus at the time of his death.
West was born on Sept. 21, 1930, in Beruit, Lebanon, and came to the U.S. with his mother and siblings in 1941. Educated at Phillips Academy Andover and Princeton University, West served three years in the U.S. Army. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 1960 from Cornell University. He taught at Williams College and came to Lawrence University in 1966 where he taught chemistry for the next 27 years until his retirement in 1993. He regularly was published in the Journal of Chemical Education.
In the spirit of the multi-interested Lawrentian, West was also an enthusiastic poet and served as university chaplain from at least 1987 to 1993, offering the invocations and benedictions at all of the university’s matriculation convocations and commencement ceremonies.
An honorary Master of Arts degree was awarded to West upon his retirement honoring his years of dedicated service to the institution. A portion of the citation for that honor gives insight into West’s approach to teaching and his impact at Lawrence, noting that he “exemplified the virtues and rewards of effective teaching, both in the classroom and laboratory, and have been a wise and caring counselor to generations of Lawrence undergraduates.
“You have taken seriously the pedagogical challenges of first-rate science education and have met them. Your lectures and laboratories have led students to observe chemistry not only in the confines of Youngchild but in the world beyond and to comprehend its application in their everyday lives. Before it became a vogue, you moved toward a lecture-lean, experience-rich approach to the subject. Your final demonstration in General Chemistry became something of a campus event, drawing crowds to witness wonderful explosions and myriad colors—and to listen to your very own musical rendition of the periodic table of elements.
“And no testimony to your years at Lawrence would be complete without mention of your magnificent Freshman Studies lectures on Kuhn, in which the phlogiston theory became vital and viable.
“Above all, you have been the exemplar of the liberally educated person, as your poetry, musical talents and tastes, and full participation in the life of the college attest.”
West was preceded in death by his wife of 14 years, Emily Mountz West (1999), his son Daniel Colton West (2014), and his grandson Michael Crawford Bennett (1990). He is survived by his daughters Margaret Bennett and Katherine Walles (David) and daughter-in-law Kelly Myers West, as well as three grandchildren, Jennifer Bennett, Andrew Walles (Elizabeth), and Christopher Walles (Katie), and a great granddaughter Sawyer Grace Walles.
West moved to Cambridge, MA in 1994 with his (now deceased) wife Emily, where he served as a tutor at a local high school and volunteered at Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic. He moved to Brookhaven at Lexington retirement community in 2007 where he was active in a variety of activities, including performing with the Brookhaven Players and singing with the Chorale. On one of his many trips on the Brookhaven shuttle to attend movies and musical performances, he met Betsey Farber, who was his sweetheart for the next 10 years until his death.
Donations in West’s memory may be sent to The Pine Street Inn, 444 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA, 02118 or online at pinestreetinn.org. A memorial service will be held at Brookhaven at Lexington at a future date.
