John Alan Lewis (born 25 August 1963) is an American

computer science Computer science is the study of computation, information, and automation. Computer science spans Theoretical computer science, theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, and information theory) to Applied science, ...

educator, and the owner of a

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

account that is frequently mistaken for that of the British department store or the American politician and civil rights leader.

Computer science

Formerly of

Villanova University Villanova University is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in Villanova, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded by the Order of Saint Augustine in 1842 and named after Thomas of Villanova, Saint Thom ...

and the

New York Institute of Technology The New York Institute of Technology (NYIT or New York Tech) is a Private university, private research university, research university founded in 1955. It has two main campuses in New York (state), New York—one in Old Westbury, on Long I ...

, Lewis is an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

Virginia Tech The Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, commonly referred to as Virginia Tech (VT), is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia, United States ...

. He is one of the coauthors of ''Java Software Solutions'', an introductory text on

Java Java is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea (a part of Pacific Ocean) to the north. With a population of 156.9 million people (including Madura) in mid 2024, proje ...

programming Program (American English; also Commonwealth English in terms of computer programming and related activities) or programme (Commonwealth English in all other meanings), programmer, or programming may refer to: Business and management * Program m ...

Social media

Popularly, Lewis is known for being the owner of the

account '@johnlewis', to which hundreds of users from across the world mistakenly send tweets intended for the British department store

John Lewis John Robert Lewis (February 21, 1940 – July 17, 2020) was an American civil rights activist and politician who served in the United States House of Representatives for from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville ...

or the American politician and civil rights leader

. He has been described as "the most patient man on the internet" by British social media users for redirecting with humour mistaken requests and messages sent to him, especially around the Christmas shopping period. The department store sent Lewis a gift set as an acknowledgment and a thank you in 2016 for the inconvenience caused to him. In 2018, Lewis was featured in a Twitter Christmas ad with the hashtag #NotARetailStore.

References

External links

Twitter page

Faculty page
1963 births American computer scientists Living people Villanova University faculty New York Institute of Technology faculty Virginia Tech faculty {{US-compu-bio-stub