Shirley Ann Redd Lewis (

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Redd; born June 11, 1937) was an American educator, academic administrator, and college president. In 1994, she was the first female president of

Paine College Paine College is a private, historically black Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia. It is affiliated with the United Methodist Church and Christian Methodist Episcopal Church. Paine College offers undergraduate degrees in the liberal arts, ...

, a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

historically black Historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of serving African Americans. Most are in the Southern U ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

college in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. Her research focus was in language acquisition in education. She also held roles at

Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development (also known as Vanderbilt Peabody College, Peabody College, or simply Peabody) is the education school of Vanderbilt University, a private research university in Nashville, Tennessee. ...

, and

Meharry Medical College Meharry Medical College is a private historically black medical school affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Nashville, Tennessee. Founded in 1876 as the Medical Department of Central Tennessee College, it was the first m ...

Early life and education

Shirley Ann Redd was born on June 11, 1937 in

Winding Gulf Winding Gulf is a long tributary of the Guyandotte River in Raleigh County, West Virginia, Raleigh County, West Virginia. Winding Gulf is part of the Mississippi River drainage basin, watershed via the Guyandotte and Ohio River, Ohio Rivers, and ...

, West Virginia. Her parents were Thelma Danese Biggers Redd and Ronald F. Redd, her father worked as a school teacher. When she was young her parents divorced, which caused her to move with her mother in order for her mother to find work; together they moved to Beckley, West Virginia;

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

, New York City;

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, Massachusetts, and eventually settle down in

Berkeley Berkeley most often refers to: *Berkeley, California, a city in the United States **University of California, Berkeley, a public university in Berkeley, California *George Berkeley (1685–1753), Anglo-Irish philosopher Berkeley may also refer to ...

, California. Her mother worked as a children's nurse. She attended Berkeley High School. She graduated from

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

(1960 B.A. in Spanish and M.S.W. in social work); and

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

(PhD 1979 in education). She also did graduate level teaching credential work at

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It was established in 1899 as the San Francisco State Normal School and is ...

and

California State University, Hayward California State University, East Bay (Cal State East Bay, CSU East Bay, or CSUEB) is a public university in Hayward, California. The university is part of the California State University system and offers 136 undergraduate and 60 post-baccala ...

(now California State University, East Bay).

Career

From 1962 until 1963, she worked as a Spanish teacher at the

Ravenswood City School District The Ravenswood City School District is a public school district headquartered in East Palo Alto, California, US. The district, in the San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions ...

in East Palo Alto. After her marriage, she and her husband traveled to Africa three times. The first visit was to Ghana in 1966; followed by Liberia, Senegal, Nigeria, and Ivory Coast; and again to Ghana in 1968. In 1968, she and her husband received certificates in Africa studies from a joint program hosted by the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It is the oldest public university in the country. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the British colony of the Gold Coast ...

and the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

. In the 1970s, Lewis worked for welfare rights organizations and at community schools. From 1972 to 1975, she taught English classes at Nairobi College, a private junior college in East Palo Alto, California. She also taught linguistics at

Foothill College Foothill College is a public community college in Los Altos Hills, California. It is part of the Foothill–De Anza Community College District. It was founded on January 15, 1957, and offers 84 Associate degree programs, 2 Bachelor's degree p ...

, a public community college in Los Altos, California. While attending graduate school she worked as a supervisor of the Stanford Teacher Education Program from 1972 until 1974. This was followed by work at Stanford University School of Education's program on cultural and linguistic pluralism, where she co-authored linguistic research papers. Her doctorate degree was awarded in 1979 in education, with a focus on language acquisition for bilingual and bidialectical students. From 1979 to 1980, she moved to Nashville, to hold an adjunct professor role at the Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development. From 1981 to 1984, Lewis worked as an educational specialist at Meharry Medical College. In 1984, she was appointed to associate dean of academic affairs at Meharry. This was followed by executive director role at the United Methodist Church's Black College Fund from 1986 to 1991, and a promotion to assistant general secretary in 1992. In 1994, Lewis was elected president of Paine College, replacing Julius S. Scott Jr. Within the 41 schools in the United Negro College Fund system, she was one of four women elected to president. Lewis was also the first female president at Paine College, in its 112 years of existence. She served as president of Paine College until 2007. Files of Lewis’s work with the United Methodist Church Black College Fund are located in Nashville, Tennessee. Files from her presidency of Paine College are located at the campus.

Personal life

She married Ronald McGhee Lewis in 1963, and together they had one daughter. In 2022, her husband Ronald Lewis died at age 87 in Montclair, New Jersey.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Shirley A. R. 1937 births Living people 20th-century American women academics 20th-century American academics African-American women academic administrators American women academic administrators African-American academic administrators Berkeley High School (Berkeley, California) alumni California State University, East Bay alumni Meharry Medical College faculty People from Raleigh County, West Virginia San Francisco State University alumni Stanford Graduate School of Education alumni University of California, Berkeley alumni Vanderbilt University faculty Heads of universities and colleges in the United States Presidents of Paine College Women heads of universities and colleges