Delano Lewis named NMSU visiting senior fellow for Global Affairs

New Mexico State University is welcoming former U.S. Ambassador Delano E. Lewis as visiting senior fellow for Global Affairs, NMSU Provost Carol Parker announced in a news release.

“In this role, Ambassador Lewis will share his knowledge and experience in global affairs through guest lectures, hosting of conferences, seminars and workshops on relevant international issues impacting our community, the state and the nation, all aimed at helping to bring a global perspective across all academic levels, and to advance the mission of expanding and enhancing the knowledge and skills of all students in preparation for success in a competitive global society,” Parker said.

Parker said Lewis gained his unique perspective and knowledge through a long and distinguished career as a diplomat, businessman and entrepreneur.

In June 1999, President Bill Clinton nominated Lewis as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. He served Dec. 22, 1999-July 13, 2001.

In September 2006, Lewis was named senior fellow at NMSU, where he established the Institute for International Relations and served as director. Lewis now serves on the board of the American Institutes for Research.

Lewis, 81, began the Left Right Forward Foundation, which includes a wide-ranging series of podcasts, in 2018. He is also working on a project to chronicle the Black experience in America.

Lewis graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1960 and from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka, Kansas in 1963. He worked in the Internal Security Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, was a lawyer with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, served on the staff of U.S. Sen. Edward Brooke, R-Massachusetts, became CEO of the Chesapeake and Potomac Telephone Company and served on the boards of directors of Colgate-Palmolive and Eastman Kodak.

Lewis helped guide passage of Washington, D.C.’s Home Rule Act through Congress in 1973. He ran for D.C. city council, losing to future D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and later led Barry’s mayoral transition team.

Lewis is the author of “No Condition Is Permanent” and “It All Begins with Self.”

Lewis and his wife, Gayle, have four sons – including television actor and director Phill Lewis – and 11 grandchildren. The couple retired to Las Cruces in 2001.

Visit https://provost.nmsu.edu/delano-lewis.html.

This story is based on a news release written by Adriana M. Chavez, senior communications specialist with the New Mexico State University News Team.