David Lewis is a retired chemist and avid mycologist. He received his Bachelor and Master of Science degrees from Lamar University, Beaumont, TX, where his thesis was based on a study of East Texas mushrooms. He is a Research Associate with the Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, IL, and 5000 collections of his fungi are deposited there. He is an honorary staff member associated with the Tracy Herbarium at Texas A&M University. Since 2006 he has been the Fungal TWiG leader, the coordinator for mycologists, for the Big Thicket National Preserve All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory . He is President of the Gulf States Mycological Society, has authored several papers related to mycology, and discovered many new species of mushrooms (three species are named for him).

In November 2009 he received The North American Mycological Association's award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology, a prestigious award showing appreciation for his many years of dedicated work. He and his wife Patricia live on 65 wooded acres in Newton County, Texas, where they enjoy their plants, fungi and wildlife.

NAMA Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology 2009: This award is is given annually to recognize a person who has contributed extraordinarily to the advancement of amateur mycology. According to Gary Lincoff, Chair of the Awards Committee, in a development unlike any in recent memory, this year's winner received a vote on every ballot cast by the former NAMA Award winners.

Dr. Rolf Singer referred to this year's winner as "an up-and-coming amateur mycologist" with whom he has been working at the Field Museum in Chicago. Even after 30 years in the field, the honoree is a tireless worker, an endlessly enthusiastic promoter of all things fungal, and one of the warmest, most generous, and least self-aggrandising individuals on the face of the Earth.

The 2009 NAMA Award for Contributions to Amateur Mycology went to DAVID LEWIS.

from The Mycophile, Volume 51:1 January/February 2010