The Center for the Humanities and Institute for Research in the Humanities are teaming up to bring Earl Lewis, historian and president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, to campus to speak Tuesday, Feb. 23, 5:30 p.m. at the Conrad A. Elvehjem Building.
Lewis is president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and served as Emory University’s first African American provost, becoming the highest ranking African American administrator in University history. A well-regarded social historian, he has been a champion of 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. The author and co-editor of seven books, he has written numerous essays, articles, and reviews on different aspects of American and African American history.
Lewis’s lecture also serves as the 2016 Nellie McKay Lecture in the Humanities, which was established in honor of Nellie Y. McKay, Evjue Professor of American and African-American Literature at UW-Madison and pioneer in the field of Afro-American studies.
