My Memory of Walter Fitch (1929-2011) and Starting Molecular Biology and Evolution

More than 3 years have passed after Walter Fitch died on March 10, 2011. However, my memory of Walter is still fresh and vivid. From the time when he and I started this journal Molecular Biology and Evolution (MBE) in 1983, we had a close contact for about 15 years. He and I also started the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE) in 1992. We had a common interest in the theoretical study of molecular evolution and phylogenetics, and we often met in scientific meetings. In this article, I would like to discuss his contributions to the development of MBE and SMBE as well as a few of his research accomplishments concerning molecular evolution. A more general story of his life and science is written by Atchley (2011), Ayala (2011), Hall (2011), and McClure (2011).