Winford Lee Lewis was born at home to George M Lewis and Sarah A Lewis on May 29, 1878, in Gridley, California. He was the youngest of seven children: he had six brothers and one sister. In 1908 he and his wife Myrlilla C Lewis had a daughter Miriam Lewis. He attended
Stanford University and graduated in 1902. In 1909, he graduated with a degree in chemistry from the
University of Chicago. He became a chemistry professor at
Northwestern University until the outbreak of
World War I. During the war, he served in the United States
Chemical Warfare Service. After the war, Lewis gave several high profile speeches in the defense of the Chemical Warfare Service and the use of chemical weapons in warfare. ==Publications==