Dr. Julia Hendrix Miwa, age 62, of Wellesley, MA, passed away peacefully on November 11, 2025, after a year-long battle with a rare epithelioid sarcoma cancer. Born January 24, 1963, she grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey and went on to lead an extraordinary life defined
by enduring curiosity, deep engagement with family and community, and remarkable generosity toward others.
Julia, the fourth of six children, was born in Bethesda, Maryland to Ellis and Jean Hendrix. She graduated from Teaneck High School, actively participating in a variety of extracurricular activities, including track and field, swimming, and the marching band. Her love of science led her to major in Chemistry at Haverford College, where she excelled both academically and athletically. She helped build the nascent Haverford Women’s Swimming Team and eventually became the starting goalkeeper for the college’s Women’s Lacrosse Team. Upon graduation, she returned to Teaneck and taught Chemistry and Physics at her high school alma mater for two years and inspired the next generation of students before pursuing graduate studies in Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
At MIT, Julia joined the Lansbury lab, where she successfully synthesized the complex amyloid protein implicated in Alzheimer’s disease and earned her PhD. She was an avid cyclist, completing century rides to Lake Winnipesaukee and Provincetown. She combined her swimming and lacrosse skills with weightlifting to become a formidable water polo goalkeeper.
With an eye towards teaching at the collegiate level, Julia accepted a post-doctoral research position in the Bartlett Group at UC Berkeley. There, she expanded her research on protein folding and long-chain amino acid synthesis. Living in the Bay Area, she embraced new activities such as rock climbing and grass doubles volleyball. Two years into her post-doc, she applied for and was awarded a tenure-track teaching opportunity at Wellesley College. This undergraduate-only institution was her dream job: teaching advanced chemistry topics to exceptional students in small classrooms through lectures, labs, and research projects. Julia’s engaging and enthusiastic teaching style quickly earned her recognition among students and faculty, including the prestigious Pinansky Prize for Outstanding Teaching.
Over more than three decades at Wellesley College, she explored innovative instructional approaches, with a focus on making her notoriously challenging organic chemistry subject material more intuitive and accessible. One of her most significant pedagogical contributions
was the creation of a tutorial-style, chemistry-centric, quantitative skills track, designed to help students from underserved high schools strengthen their math abilities without delaying their academic progress. Longitudinal studies determined that her students subsequently
matched the performance of their more highly prepared peers, and succeeded equally in STEM majors. Her augmented-track teaching approach has since been adopted by other departments, such as Economics and Physics, opening more doors for disadvantaged students.
Julia’s impact extended beyond the classroom through her tireless mentoring. Students credit her with influencing their career choices in medicine, public service, research, and teaching. Most significantly, she supported her students as whole individuals, regularly attending their theatrical performances, choral concerts, and athletic competitions, enthusiastically present as a “fan in the stands” who understood there was more to life than problem sets.
In her personal life, Julia was a loving wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She was an adventurous traveler, versatile athlete and coach, creative “dance mom,” and someone known for her generosity, patience, humor, and unwavering support. As a first-generation college graduate, she took pride in seeing both her daughters complete their own degrees. She served on the Wellesley Community Children’s Center Board and ran the 2023 Boston Marathon to raise funds for the center. She volunteered with the Wellesley ABC program and dedicated countless hours to Wellesley POPS, creating and altering costumes for high-school theater and chorus productions.
Julia is survived by her husband Brett Miwa; daughters Elise (married to Alex Guenette) and Cordelia; her mother Jean Case Hendrix; siblings Kathleen Schimmoller, Susan Hendrix, Mary Occhipinti, and John Hendrix; a large and loving extended family; and cherished pets Miller and Ramona.
There will be a Celebration of Life for Julia Miwa on January 24, 2026 at 1PM in the Wellesley College Houghton Chapel. Not coincidentally, that date would have been her 63rd birthday, chosen so all can commemorate the blessing that was her coming into our world. Inspired by her undergraduate experience at Haverford College, the event will draw upon the format of a Quaker Meeting, beginning with an extended period of silence for personal reflection, and followed by opportunities for some who knew her to share brief comments for others to contemplate in turn. A reception will follow the celebration.
For anyone who would like to attend this event virtually at that time, there will also be a live zoom option at this link
In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes donations to support future chemistry students at Wellesley College using the designation “Julia Miwa Chemistry Department Fund” at wellesley.edu/give
If you’d like us to run a complete obituary of your loved one on Swellesley, please send to theswellesleyreport@gmail.com
