Mellon Foundation President to Speak at Feb. 26 Presidential Lecture Series

Earl Lewis, PhD – a social historian and the president of the

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

– will be the second speaker in President Ono’s Presidential Lecture Series. Lewis will speak at

12:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 26, i

n the Werner Recital Hall at the College-Conservatory of Music. His topic is “Education, Universities and the American Future.”

President Ono will also present the President’s Award for Excellence, one of UC's highest honors, to Lewis.

Lewis became the president of the Mellon Foundation in March 2013 and had served as a trustee with the organization since 2011. Prior to Mellon, he had a long career in higher education, last serving at Emory University as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies.  He arrived at Emory in 2004, after serving as dean of the Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studies and vice provost for academic affairs/graduate studies at the University of Michigan. From 1989 to 1994, he was a member of the faculty in the Department of African American Studies at the University of California, Berkeley.

Lewis holds degrees in history and psychology and is the author and co-editor of seven books, including the award-winning “To Make Our World Anew: A History of African Americans,” published by Oxford University Press. A native of Tidewater, Va., he earned an undergraduate degree from Concordia College (Minnesota) and a PhD in history from the University of Minnesota.

In recent years, he has gained a reputation as a champion for diversifying the academy, enhancing graduate education, re-visioning the liberal arts, exploring the role of digital tools for learning and connecting universities to their communities.

The lecture is free and open to the public. Seating is available on first come, first served basis.

Website and full bio