Lawrence M. Lew faculty introduction, 1948

Lawrence M. Lew faculty introduction, 1948

Before coming to Bradley University, Lawrence Mayo Lew had already managed to build a distinguished career through difficult times. Born Liu Tsung-pen in turn of the century China, he graduated with a BA in history from Nanking University. In 1922, he wrote a master’s thesis in political science from the University of Chicago which was later published—University of Nanking Magazine (February 1924). Lawrence and his wife, Grace, who had studied at Oberlin Conservatory of Music, both started teaching careers in Nanjing and then Shanghai.

For the next two decades, the turmoil of revolution and wartime occupation raged around them. During this time, Lew took on important political and administrative roles in the Municipal Council of Shanghai, as a member of the Treaty Commission for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and as a part of the United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA) in China. Work for the latter organization took him on international travel to England and the United States as well.

Fortune brought Lew and his family to Bradley in 1948 after plans for an appointment at Drake University fell apart. His appointment marks a transformation of the faculty. The growing numbers of professors also represented more diverse and international backgrounds.

At Bradley, Lew would teach political science for twenty years, eventually chairing the department and the division of social studies. He also served as the advisor for international students (who arrived in Peoria in the 1950s from countries on every continent), liaison to the Peace Corps, and created the International Student Friendship Foundation, now the Peoria Area Friends of International Students (PAFIS). Lew served as a faculty advisor for Nadi El-Wah’da, a student organization in the early 1950s promoting “international unity.” International Club was another student organization that showed the broadening of the university’s horizons in the post-war period. Lew also contributed to the organization of the Institute of International Studies, which took shape under the direction of Nicholas Nyaradi after 1958.

Lawrence and Grace Lew would eventually leave Peoria for southern California, but not before two of their four children graduated from Bradley—Patsy Lew Lum ’51 and Doug Lew BFA ’52, MA Social Studies ’53.

Faculty; International students

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