Fordham University regretfully acknowledges the death of one of its faculty members, Brother DeSales Lawless. Lawless, the first chairman the Department of Natural Sciences at Lincoln Center, passed away at age 87 on Friday, Feb. 29.
Lawless, a Xaverian brother, was born in Louisville, Kentucky. He received a B.S. from Catholic University and an M.S. from Saint John's University. He acquired Ph.Ds in science education and biochemistry from New York University.
He began his teaching career at the high school level, as the headmaster of Saint Joseph's Preparatory School in Bardstown, Kentucky. He then taught at Mount Saint Joseph's High School in Baltimore, Maryland, as well as at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, New York. Brother Lawless settled into Manhattan in the late 1960s, leaving his mark on Fordham College at Lincoln Center.
Fordham welcomed Lawless into its faculty in 1969. He was part of Fordham's Liberal Arts College, which is now recognized as Fordham College at Lincoln Center. Amongst the enthusiastic faculty of the young college, Lawless was the first scientist. He remained at the college for 34 years, pioneering multiple programs and enhancing the lives of young science scholars.
Lawless founded the Department of Science and Mathematics, which later became known as the Department of Natural Sciences. He also started the pre-medical program, which has had incredible success. In September of 1990, Lawless was named associate professor emeritus. At that time, it was mandatory to retire at age 70. That did not stop Lawless, though. He continued to teach until 2003 when he then returned to his hometown to retire.
During his lifetime, Lawless also spent time researching at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Institute. In addition to teaching at Fordham, Lawless served as an adjunct professor in Immunology at Rockefeller University. He productively spent his summers at a variety of noteworthy institutions such as the Oak Ridge National Lab, Argonne National Lab, Bethesda Naval Hospital, Air Force National Lab, NASA at the Johnson Space Center, Ames Research Center and Stanford University.
2008 Woodie Awards
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