Jim Lewis

W. James "Jim" Lewis is an Aaron Douglas Professor of Mathematics Emeritus at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL). From 2015 to 2018, he worked at the National Science Foundation, serving first as Deputy Assistant Director and later as Acting Assistant Director of the Directorate for Education and Human Resources.

From 1988 to 2003, Lewis served as chair of the Department of Mathematics during which time his department won the University of Nebraska's 1998 University-wide Departmental Teaching Award and a 1998 Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring. Lewis has received his university’s Outstanding Teaching and Instructional Creativity Award and the Carnegie Foundation’s 2010 Nebraska Professor of the Year Award. He also received the UNL Chancellor’s Commission on the Status of Women Award for his support of opportunities for women in the mathematical sciences. In 2015, Lewis received the Mathematical Association of America’s Gung and Hu Award for Distinguished Service and the American Mathematical Society’s Award for Impact on the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics. Lewis is an elected Fellow of the American Mathematical Society and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Lewis has served as Principal Investigator for four major NSF grants, the Math in the Middle Institute Partnership (2004-2011), NebraskaMATH (2009-2014), NebraskaNOYCE (2010-2014) and currently STEM CONNECT. Lewis was chair of the writing team for The Mathematical Education of Teachers II, co-chair of the National Research Council committee that produced Educating Teachers of Science, Mathematics and Technology: New Practices for the new Millennium, a member of the AMS Task Force that produced Towards Excellence: Leading a Doctoral Mathematics Department in the 21st Century, and a member of the NRC Committee that produced Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy. He received his Ph.D. in mathematics from Louisiana State University.