Santa J. Ono Presents Award for Excellence to Mellon Foundation President

Andrew J. Mellon Foundation President Earl Lewis has a message for those who question the value of a college education: It’s more important than ever to have a baccalaureate degree and that diploma is not just about getting a job, it’s about being educated.

Lewis made his remarks at UC on Feb. 26 as the second guest speaker in the Presidential Lecture Series launched by President Santa J. Ono  this academic year. Each semester, the series will bring to campus a national thought leader.

Lewis challenged American higher educators to reimagine the way they have always done things, including the fall-to-spring academic calendar. Looking to the future, he suggested that post-secondary educational institutions should:

• move from a sheer admissions/access approach toward one that focuses on graduation/completion.
• give greater emphasis to using technology in new ways.
• update pedagogy for the 21st century learner and tailor that pedagogy to the learning style of the student.
• embrace the university's role as an economic engine and anchor in their communities.
  

Expressing concerns that admissions do not equate to graduations, he cautioned that far too many students in two-year colleges are not graduating and that four-year institutions should form closer pathways and partnerships with these institutions and work together to improve student success.

He also cautioned against viewing arts and humanities as separate from STEM education. He recounted a story of business executive who viewed art history as one of the most important courses he took in college because it gave him knowledge that helped to build interpersonal relationships with clients around the world.

A renowned scholar of African American and American history who has written and edited numerous books and book series, Lewis served as the first African American to serve as provost and the highest-ranking African American leader at Emory University. In March 2013, he was appointed to lead the Mellon Foundation. At Mellon, he oversees an organization that has launched a new grant program that supports new forms of academic publishing in ways that some researchers hope will give greater legitimacy to digital publication of scholarship.

President Ono presented Lewis with UC’s President’s Award for Excellence, one of the top honors bestowed by the university to people who make significant contributions to the purposes and ideals of the university through education, research or administrative service. The recipients also must show excellence in their fields of endeavor.