In Memoriam

Lee Wilson

Lee Wilson died on February 14, 2025. No obituary is available, but as remembrances we have reproduced his essays from our 60th Reunion Book and 50th Reunion Book.

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Essay, 60th Reunion Book

by Lee Wilson

May 2024

My life is much the same as it has been since grad school. Still married and have lived in Santa Fe for 50 years. Still working as a hydrology consultant, but no longer full time. Just back from a trip to Europe and South Africa. Our daughter is a TV producer (Star Trek Discovery). Our granddaughter Greta is 11 and a wonderful person. Two cats competing for the most lazy award. Enjoyed watching the Harvard Game. Bottom line: reasonably healthy, life is good.

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Essay, 50th Reunion Book

by Lee Wilson

May 2014

My career path has been simple: get a great Yale education in geology and ecology, then a Ph.D. in geology/ecology from Columbia. Work over 40 years as a consultant in water resources and environmental protection. Always busy, many fine clients, corporate, government and no end of lawyers, and assignments that are consistently diverse. Every water topic you can think of is interesting, and figuring out how to solve problems is still one of the great highs. Being paid to learn is a pleasure and privilege.

My firm likely will stay active until the phone stops ringing. The single most satisfying project was helping Taos Pueblo secure its future water supply. This took 30 years. The single best client involved 24 years of contracts with EPA, and a focus on coastal restoration in Louisiana. Hint to selecting a career path: find clients who send you to places where the food is great. I’ve also enjoyed donating time to support of international education in environmental impact assessment, making friends all over the world.

More than anything, I’ve learned the importance of taking nothing as “true” unless and until I spend the time to study and think it through. For water and environment, that almost always results in finding unexpected consequences that undermine the 30-second spin cycle. In world affairs and domestic politics, pretty much the same.

Personal life just as simple. I met Danielle Freudmann, a Skidmore grad, in New York in 1965 and we are still together. 40 years ago we made the splendid decision to live in Santa Fe, NM, a place of nice people, interesting culture, great beauty, and low stress. Danielle spent her professional career with the State of New Mexico, mostly high-level jobs in health or insurance that cycled with local politics. Her retirement life is focused on animal rights and she is particularly proud of her support for the recent federal legislation which effectively outlaws chimp experiments. One of my life lessons has been to gradually abandon my conviction that scientific knowledge can justify animal cruelty, a lesson which I hope someday Yale will understand.

Our daughter Dana is 34 and a TV post-producer in Los Angeles. Her top credential was 8 years with Desperate Housewives. I’m most proud that she seems to still enjoy my company and listen to my advice. Granddaughter Greta is now one year old, as cute as can be. Danielle and I travel quite a bit, all over the world (Congo this year, because Africa is our favorite destination and we could hang out with chimps), but otherwise live a quiet and comfortable life.

50 years has flown by, but I still have great memories of Yale and appreciation for what a Yale education has done for me as a person and in my professional life. I particularly enjoy that Yale has become a world leader in advancing environmental protection for the global good. Whatever other priorities are important, a healthy planet seems most essential.