Legends of Exeter: Lewis Hitzrot
Image Courtesy of Exeter Library Archives
By CHLOE LIND, V MURDAYA, MARVIN SHIM, and KEVIN THANT
“Some people come into our lives and quickly go. Some stay for a while, leave footprints on our hearts, and we are never, ever the same.” - Flavia Weedn.
High school lasts only four years. In the grand trajectory of life, it exists as but a brief chapter. Nevertheless, there exist individuals whose impact is felt long after we leave the confining four walls of a classroom. These are the individuals who elevate the community, who shape values, and who inspire the generations that will soon follow. It’s not about the awards or the accomplishments, but how they change lives, challenge minds, and connect souls. They are the people who will leave you better than they found you. Whether through leadership, mentorship, or dedication, their influence becomes woven into the very fabric of Phillips Exeter Academy’s legacy. Mr. Lewis Hitzrot ‘60, Emeritus Chair of the Science Department, instructor of chemistry and physics, and Director of Admissions, serves as a perfect example of that kind of individual. The Exeter community offers its utmost gratitude for his inspiring of Exonians’ dreams, and for his work in guiding his pupils and fellow teachers on their journey through the struggles of academia.
Hitzrot’s journey with Exeter began as a student of the class of 1960. Following his graduation, he majored in chemistry at college and went to graduate school in the subject. He then taught at a Quaker school in Long Island for around 8 years. For Hitzrot, his return to Exeter began when he saw Hammy Bissell ’29 at an alumni event and was offered a position as assistant director of admissions. Following a promotion to director of admissions, he left the admissions department to pursue a fulltime job teaching physics and chemistry.
As chair of the science department, Hitzrot was more than just an educator. He was a mentor, a guide, and a catalyst for growth. Instructor in Science Christopher Matlack described his relationship with Hitzrot as both a new faculty member and during his later career, “[On the third floor of the science building], he was right across the hall from me in the Multi-Science wing, where Dr. Summer Morrill now teaches. He was a very wise counsel. He had gone to school here. He had been Director of Admissions. He always had really good advice and acted as a mentor, not in biology, but in how to teach.”
“Mr. Hitzrot was my science mentor in my first year at PEA, and remained a role model for me until he retired,” Instructor in Science Tanya Waterman shared. “A true Exonian role model, who offered to serve in any capacity the school asked him to help, and he did it with all his might and kindness.”
“Given his years of experience relative to mine, he was a voice of wisdom, and he provided a lot of help as a younger teacher,” Instructor in Science AJ Cosgrove said. “He was very positive and professional and never complained about anything.”
“He has no idea how much I learned about how to live a meaningful life from watching his example.” said Instructor in Science Anne Rankin.
However, Hitzrot didn’t just make waves in the science department, but also in the Admissions Office. Principal Bill Rawson recalled, “Mr. Hitzrot hired me as an Admissions Officer in 1976. He was my boss in the Admissions Office for two years. In that role, he was my supervisor, mentor, and great friend, whom I admired greatly.”
“Bill Rawson was in his first year at law school, Stanford Law School, and I wrote him a letter, out of the blue, not thinking that it would amount to something. I had moved from being assistant director of admissions to Director of Admissions, and I had to hire a younger person to take my place. But I got a letter right back saying he’s interested,” Hitzrot commented. “The Dean of the law school was reluctant to give him a leave of absence of two years, [...] but we relented and gave Rawson a two year leave, and we had a great time working in the admissions office together.”
“Over the years, while he was teaching science at Exeter and I was practicing law, it was always a great pleasure to see Mr. Hitzrot when I was back on campus. When I returned as principal in 2018, I stayed in Mr. Hitzrot’s house for two weeks, while the Principal’s house was being made ready for me,” Rawson detailed.
Trustee Gene Lynch ‘79 was yet another person whose life he shaped in his work at the Admissions Office. Lynch explained, “I got connected to Exeter because I delivered newspapers in Chicago, the Chicago Tribune and Sun Times, and through that paper route, they connected me with private day schools in Chicago and boarding schools in New England. Hitzrot came out and interviewed me. He introduced me to Exeter. [Afterwards,] he always checked in on me. He knew I was away from home, in a new environment, so he always made sure to check in.”
“I loved him, and I learned a lot from him. His everyday good energy and challenges always inspired his students, and I think the students liked that,” Instructor in Science Melissa D. Mischke reflected. Mischke also made a point of recalling Hitzrot’s unique, progressive teaching methods. “Back in the day, so to speak, there was a kind of meaner professor—the more stringent, strict person who had no tolerance for goofing or making a mistake. I don’t think he ever bought into that. He cared, and he was compassionate and supportive.”
Hitzrot’s empathetic quality was further detailed by Rawson:“Mr. Hitzrot will always be appreciated by faculty for how kind and thoughtful he was in nurturing the careers of younger faculty. He will be appreciated by students for being an excellent teacher and holding students to a high standard and helping them get there.”
“I would say he touched hundreds, if not thousands of lives similar to mine, by giving us a chance to experience Exeter. He carried on the work of Hammy Bissell, looking for paper boys and girls who were long on brains and short on cash,” Lynch noted.
As Mischke mentioned, Hitzrot put great importance on making his classes engaging and fun for the students. Hitzrot said, “You gotta have fun, and one of the great things about teaching chemistry is that there are a lot of exciting things that you can do and mind bending demonstrations that are really eye-catching and exciting.”
He continued, “I used to have a little cannon that you could load with a Bunsen burner: just fill it with gas, mixture of gas and air, and put a cork in it. So when a kid would come in late for class, I would fire the cannon at them, and that usually made the point things like that.”
Hitzrot himself highlighted a demonstration in which he got himself pied by Mr. Matlack. “When I was teaching chemistry, one of the things I was always trying to do is to get the kids to make sure they put on their safety glasses when they were in the lab. So, after a while, I got very tired of telling the kids to put them on. So we decided we would try to figure out a way to show why it was really important,” Hitzrot remarked. “So the way we did it was Mr. Matlack would come into my classroom in the middle of class and make some demanding statements. We get into this sort of fight, and he leaves in a huff. All the kids in class are all ‘what the heck is going on?’ So while he’s going back into his classroom, I pretend to be doing some kind of demonstration that requires me to put my safety glasses on. And when I put them on, he comes back with a pie plate loaded with shaving cream and comes up and puts it in my face!”
Matlack also recalled his antics with Hitzrot with fondness. “He always told the kids: ‘you gotta wear safety goggles.’ And then I would run in and put a pie, this whole pot, right into his face. And then I would run out. He put his safety glasses on before I came in and then took them off after I put the pie in his face to show that the pie didn’t get into his eyes.”
“He ran out, getting like high fives, and everyone’s astounded. But then, I take my safety glasses off, and my whole face is covered with shaving cream, except my eyes are fine. I had my safety glasses on,” Hitzrot continued. “Hopefully they got the lesson.”
“He would always play tricks on me,” Matlack continued. “Like whenever people are using the Van de Graaff generator, he would always call me over and ask me to shake the hand of the last guy on the line. Then I would realize he was last in line, and then I would get shocked.”
Waterman further described Hitzrot’s enthusiasm for teaching, sense of fun, and the commitment he had for his students. “His love for and dedication to his students was constant and unerring. He cared about the “whole person,” and not just class performance. There was no compromise in the rigor of his classes, and so he taught me how to reach out and encourage the students, even when they did not seem to need a boost, or did not ask for such. He is a master of detecting when someone needs help, and he offers it generously, intelligently, efficiently, and discreetly. Inimitable as he is, I tried my best to be a small percent as good as he is.” Evidently, Hitzrot’s spirit in the classroom inspired everyone he touched, not only his students but his fellow friends and colleagues.
Most notably, Hitzrot’s defining trait was often referenced as his humility. Mischke explained, “He would see himself as just a normal guy. [He’s just] doing [his] job. [He] likes what [he does]; he cares about his family, and he cares about the school and the department. [...] Some people do things and at every turn they’re getting these special accolades and awards. He just clicked along and did what he needed to do. So that’s the kind of person: he was humble, probably more than he needed to be. He probably could have been a little bit more vain if he wanted to.”
“He was smart. He was fair. He had the highest integrity, always cared deeply about the school, and was a superb teacher, an excellent mentor to younger teachers. He was able to provide honest, helpful feedback with kindness and genuine caring,” Rawson noted. “He embodied the Exeter values of academic excellence and non sibi.”
“When he came back to visit me after he retired, it was like I had a celebrity with me. We went to lunch together in Wetherell, and everybody would know him and shake hands with him, and it took forever to get into lunch,” Matlack commented. “You could just tell he has a lot of respect, and I would say that’s part of his legacy. He was a real school person. [...] He was just so well rounded, both in what he taught and what he did.”
But the connections Hitzrot made extended far beyond the classroom. Outside of the classroom he was a tennis coach, but also dorm head of Wentworth Hall. Hitzrot recalled how he had a bus pick up the dorm from around quarter to 12 a.m. and drove all of Wentworth to Romeo’s to have pizza, starting a tradition that still stands today.
“I take credit for implementing the midnight pizza run. I don’t know if it’s still happening, but what we did was, on a Saturday night, I arranged to have a bus and back up to the Court Street door of Wentworth, at about 11:30 p.m. or so after check in. And then, we rang the fire bell,” Hitzrot recalled. “The other proctors made sure they didn’t run out the wrong doors, and once we were all on the bus, we drove around town a bit in the dark. They’re wondering what the heck is going on, and then we end up at Romeo’s. That was a tradition that was going on up until I retired.”
Hitzrot also made things special in the little moments. Rankin detailed how the two would walk their dogs together. “I gradually got to know him a bit better because we walked our dogs at the same time each morning in the school fields. He had a wonderfully friendly, goofy, lovable golden retriever named Lexie. I had a surly, unpredictable, too smart for her own good, punk dog named Skip. Skip would periodically attack Lexie — an unexpected start to a decades long friendship!” Rankin highlighted.
Hitzrot is known for his nickname Zeus, which he used for a while on the license plate of his Mazda Miata, and for the quip, “Do as you oughta; add acid to wattah.”
“If you have concentrated sulfuric acid and you put water, there’s a reaction that produces an incredible amount of heat, so much heat that the water immediately turns into steam, which basically is like an explosion, and it splatters sulfuric acid all over everything,” Hitzrot explained. “That’s the reason behind that. Do as you ought to do, don’t do as you ought not to do.”
Hitzrot placed the needs of everyone else before him. He did not only as he needed to do, but also what others needed from him. “Him coming out to Chicago and giving me the thumbs up made a huge difference in my life. I’ll always be grateful and thankful for that perfect man,” Lynch shared.
The legacy of Hitzrot serves as testament to the enduring power of passion and humility. He was not just a science teacher or Director of Admissions, he was so much more; he was a guide and a friend to everyone who ever had the good fortune of crossing his path. Among the countless lives he touched and the remarkable work he realized, he always remained grounded, placing others before himself. It is this rare combination of brilliance and humility that has carved an ineffaceable mark on Exeter’s history. He manifests the elusive definition of non sibi. The teachers who sing his praises and carry forward his lessons and the community that remains inspired by his example all stand as living tribute to his extraordinary impact. We are fortunate to have known him, and his legacy will glow bright in all of us for generations to come.
