H. Kent Bowen

178 Cross Street

Belmont, MA 02478

617-448-4711

April 17, 2015

Letter of Recommendation for John Lewis:

I have known John Lewis since July of 2008 when he served as a missionary in the Washington Tacoma

Mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I was the president of the mission and his

supervisor.

Before serving as mission president, I was professor of engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of

Technology for 22 years and professor of business at the Harvard Business School for 16 years. During

these 38 years in academia, I taught thousands of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels. I

followed many of these students as they transitioned into professional careers. I recognized the

importance of personal qualities and mental capacities in their ability to have productive careers.

John Lewis compares favorably with many of the students I taught. He has a keen intellect and is curious

with a desire to learn and understand. He is not afraid to ask questions to deepen his understanding. He

was an outstanding team player while also having a healthy competitive spirit.

While under my direction as a missionary, John served in leadership roles. He is a man of integrity which

meant other young missionaries and seasoned leaders in the congregations trusted him and fed off of his

enthusiasm. He demonstrated the ability to set personal and team goals and brought discipline to

achieving those goals. He was a very hard worker. He was a great teacher and quite creative in bringing

new ideas to his teaching. He was easy to coach and had no qualms about owning up to mistakes, and

looked for ways to improve. He was both humble and a natural leader; he had a great impact on those his

own age and more experienced leaders and members.

I have not seen John perform in an academic setting and don’t have direct measures of his intellectual

prowess, but based on my observations, I would still rank John in the top 30 percent of thousands of

students I taught at the university and in the top 10 percent of the 350 missionaries who served with me.

In a work environment John is engaging and able to relate to people; he has empathy, great observational

skills and the ability to assess his situation. This makes him a valuable member of an organization.

I strongly recommend John Lewis. If you have further questions, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

H. Kent Bowen