Aaron Lemonick (1923-2003) served as Princeton’s 10th dean of the faculty from 1973 to 1989. His 16 years in this role marked the second longest tenure in the deanship’s history (a distinction shared with James Ormsbee Murray), during which he played a pivotal part in bolstering the Princeton faculty.

Lemonick served in the Air Force during World War II before attending the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate. He then came to Princeton to study physics as a graduate student, receiving a doctorate in 1954.

After working for seven years in the Haverford College physics department, Lemonick returned to Princeton in 1961 as an associate professor of physics. In the early 1960s, Lemonick contributed to the planning and constructing the Princeton-Pennsylvania Accelerator, a particle accelerator that yielded several important discoveries in physics.

"He had a very good ability to spot the important things on which to concentrate in solving a problem," longtime colleague and professor emeritus of physics Frank Shoemaker said. “Almost immediately, Lemonick also began helping to coordinate the research among the physicists who used the machine and proved to be an effective administrator,” Shoemaker said.

Lemonick served as dean of the Graduate School from 1969 to 1973 before his appointment as dean of the faculty in 1973. A key innovation during his tenure was creating and using specially designated resources that allowed the University to act quickly in recruiting internationally valued scholars.

“With Lemonick's support, several departments, including molecular biology, mathematics and philosophy, went through important periods of growth or renewal,” former President William Bowen said. “Many of the people who are leaders of the faculty today came up through the ranks or were brought in under Aaron's leadership.”

Throughout his career, Lemonick served on the boards of Princeton University Press, Bryn Mawr College, the Princeton Adult School and Princeton Day School. Upon retirement in 1994, he was honored with the President's Award for Distinguished Teaching. In 2001, Princeton awarded Lemonick an honorary Doctor of Science degree.

Written by Shane B. Black for the Office of the Dean of the Faculty.