James “Jim” Lewis (’64) loves libraries. For as long as he can remember — going back to the small library in his North Carolina hometown in the 1940s, to the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at Wake Forest in the 1960s, to the public library system in Washington, D.C., where he lives now — he’s always found libraries to be welcoming places.

Libraries are as important as ever, even in today’s digital era, he said in a Zoom interview from his office in Washington. “The library is probably the most democratic institution in existence. Anybody can go in; anybody can take advantage of the programs and services that are offered.”

His love of libraries and Wake Forest have led him to make two transformative gifts. Lewis has made a $6 million bequest to Wake Forest to the College and Z. Smith Reynolds Library. His gift will support, among other things, innovative programs, courses, events and inspiring spaces at ZSR. It will also provide resources for curriculum development, faculty scholarship, new academic initiatives and experiential learning opportunities in the College.

He has also made a $25 million bequest to the American Library Association, the largest individual bequest in the association’s history. After Lewis’ death, his gift will be used to fund 40 scholarships for students with financial need who are pursuing a Master of Library and Information Science (MLIS) degree at any ALA-accredited school, according to the ALA.

Wake Forest doesn’t have an MLIS program, but Lewis wanted to make sure that ZSR was included. He has stipulated that part of his bequest be used to fund need-based scholarships for student employees in the library. ZSR started the scholarship several years ago and awarded $2,500 scholarships to 10 students this year.

“Libraries, particularly public libraries, really shaped him at an early age,” says ZSR Dean Tim Pyatt of Lewis. “We have talked about one of the things that saved him as a (Wake Forest) student was the (ZSR) library. It made him a better student. It made him more successful. It really helped transform his Wake Forest career.”

Lewis, 82, remains grateful for his Wake Forest education, which prepared him for a successful career, he says. “I also have never forgotten Pro Humanitate. I thank Wake Forest for instilling in me the conviction that all of us should give back to society to the extent that we can. I think the future of Wake Forest lies with the continuing excellence of the undergraduate College.”

Lewis is senior vice president of investments at Merrill Lynch and head of the Lewis Group. He is a member of the College Board of Visitors and a past member of the ZSR Library Board of Visitors. He also served two five-year terms — the maximum allowed — on the board of trustees of the District of Columbia Public Library.

Lewis’ journey to Wake Forest started in the North Carolina coastal town of New Bern. His father, J. Vance Lewis, a sales manager for Coca-Cola, and his mother, Blanche B. Lewis, a school nutritionist, stressed the importance of education to Lewis and his younger sister from an early age.

One of his earliest memories was walking with his mother to the New Bern public library, then housed in the historic John Wright Stanly House, when he was about 5 years old. He searched the shelves for anything that he could find that he could read. As he grew older, he devoured Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew mysteries.

When it was time to go to college, Lewis looked around New Bern and noticed that Wake Forest alumni appeared to be among the most successful people in town. That was good enough for him.

He took journalism courses with E.E. Folk (1921, P ’47) and a class on romantic poets with Ed Wilson (’43, P ’91, ’93), and he wrote for the Old Gold & Black. But he struggled academically until he found a quiet spot in ZSR Library. While some students might have gone there to socialize or perhaps see a play in the University Theatre, which was then on the top floor, Lewis emphasized that he was there for one reason only: to study.

Then he explained what led him on his short, but life changing, journey from Poteat dormitory to the library. “There were several other boys from New Bern who went to Wake Forest at the same time, and several of us lived in the same suite,” he says. “I was ‘studying’” — he makes a point of putting that in quotation marks — “in the dormitory. Sophomore year rolled around, and my grades were not that great. I thought, ‘If I’m going to graduate from Wake Forest, I’ve got to get serious. Studying in the dormitory is not going to cut it.’ So, I retreated to Z. Smith Reynolds, and it paid off.”

He did graduate and became a reporter covering county government and the North Carolina General Assembly for The (Raleigh) News & Observer. After a few years as a reporter, he joined Wachovia Bank in Winston-Salem and then realized a dream to own his own newspaper when he bought two weekly papers in Union County, North Carolina, and combined them into one.

He moved to Washington in the mid-1970s as press secretary to then-North Carolina congressman Bill Hefner before joining an investment firm. He moved to Merrill Lynch in the late 1980s.

After Sept. 11, Lewis began considering his legacy. “I thought I really should do something to give back to the community. And what better way could I serve the community than … through the D.C. public library,” he says. “I believe that to the extent that you can, you should contribute as much as you are able to organizations, universities, etc., and you really can make the proverbial difference.”

Lewis is a champion of libraries, says Pyatt, the ZSR dean. “He really sees the value that libraries and librarians bring, not only in the academic setting, but in the public library setting, too. He really wants to make it possible for more students to get into the field of librarianship, to be able to be out there and engage, whether it’s an academic setting or a public library setting or a school setting.”