Earl Lewis is the founding director of the Center for Social Solutions and professor of history at the University of Michigan. He was president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation from 2013 to 2018. Before his appointment as the president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Lewis served for over eight years as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and as the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies at Emory University. He was the university's first African-American provost and at the time the highest-ranking African-American administrator in the university's history.
Earl Lewis became the sixth President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in March 2013. Under his guidance, the Foundation has reaffirmed its commitment to the humanities, the arts, and higher education by emphasizing the importance of continuity and change. A noted social historian, Mr. Lewis has held faculty appointments at the University of California at Berkeley, and the University of Michigan. He has championed the importance of 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. Prior to joining The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Lewis served as Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies at Emory University. As Provost, he led academic affairs and academic priority setting for the university. He is the author and co-editor of seven books, including ' ; ' ; ' ; the award-winning ' ; ; as well as the 11-volume The Young Oxford History of African Americans ; and the award-winning book series American Crossroads. A native of Tidewater, Virginia, Lewis earned an undergraduate degree in history and psychology from Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, and a PhD in history from the University of Minnesota. He has been a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences since 2008. In 2015, Lewis was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from , an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from University of Cincinnati and an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from ; he also received an honorary Doctor of Humanities from Concordia College in 2002; Outstanding Achievement Award from the in 2001; and the Harold R. Johnson Diversity Service Award from the University of Michigan in 1999.
Positions currently and formerly held
He is a current or past member of a number of editorial boards and boards of directors, including the Graduate Record Exam, Southern Spaces, and the . He is the pastchair of the board of directors of The Council of Graduate Schools and is National Chair of the Woodrow Wilson Foundation's Responsive Ph.D. Project. Lewis’s research and projects have been funded by the Rockefeller, Ford, Mellon, and National Science foundations.
