Keona Lewis to join Notre Dame as assistant provost for academic diversity and inclusion
Keona Lewis, associate director of research and evaluation for diversity, equity and inclusion at the Georgia Institute of Technology, has been named assistant provost for academic diversity and inclusion at the University of Notre Dame, effective Feb. 1.
As assistant provost, Lewis will oversee the vision, strategy and community-building programs for academic diversity and inclusion. The position reports to Maura Ryan, vice president and associate provost for faculty affairs. Lewis will also hold an appointment as assistant professor of the practice in Notre Dame’s Center for Social Concerns.
“Keona is known for building effective coalitions, aligning stakeholders to advance a common goal and maximizing the reach and impact of key programs,” John T. McGreevy, the Charles and Jill Fischer Provost, said. “She will make a great addition to our office and the campus community as she helps ensure that the academic core is an environment where faculty and staff feel a strong sense of belonging and respect and where differences are celebrated.”
In her current role at Georgia Tech, Lewis has played a lead role in developing, supporting and evaluating programs for faculty, staff and students. She also has established an impressive record of leading training programs on a variety of topics, including assessing conscious and unconscious biases and microaggressions.
She was previously program review and research manager for diversity, equity and inclusion at Georgia Tech. Prior to joining Georgia Tech, Lewis taught in the anthropology and criminology departments at Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw, Georgia.
“I have pursued a career in diversity, equity and inclusion with the hopes of making a difference in the lives of those around me,” Lewis said. “Education is the great equalizer, however, all too often, access acts as a barrier to opportunity and growth. Throughout my professional career, I have had many opportunities to help level the playing field, and I am excited to continue this work at the University of Notre Dame.”
An eight-person search committee was convened to lead the assistant provost search. Its members reviewed a diverse and accomplished slate of candidates before recommending Lewis.
“Because of the committee’s passion and steadfastness, we are able to fill a crucial role in the Provost’s Office,” McGreevy said. “I am appreciative of their efforts and the leadership of Maura Ryan, who chaired the search committee and guided our diversity strategy as we sought someone to fill this role permanently.”
Lewis earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminology and her doctorate in applied anthropology from the University of South Florida in Tampa. With research interests that include higher education, the African Diaspora, ethnicity, gender and educational outcomes, she has previously taught courses in anthropology, U.S. cultural diversity and perspectives in criminal justice.
Lewis currently serves on the advisory boards of the Kendeda Building for Innovative and Sustainable Design at Georgia Tech and the Amana Academy Charter School in the Atlanta metro region.
Latest Faculty & Staff
- ‘You are not alone’: Q&A with Jessica Payne, expert on sleep, stress and memoryWomen often talk about the struggles they face feeling pinched between family and work obligations. As a result, many have trouble getting enough quality sleep, managing stress and maintaining a healthy work-life balance. These issues are very near and dear to the heart of Notre Dame’s Jessica Payne…
- The invasion of Iraq: Perspectives on war 20 years laterUniversity of Notre Dame experts look back on this 20-year anniversary and discuss whether those objectives were adequately met, and the aftermaths of war and peace on the Iraqi people and on the U.S.
- As banks grapple with bond losses, new research suggests they will comply with accounting rules but break classic investing rulesAs banks such as the recently collapsed SVB Financial Group grapple with bond losses, new research from the University of Notre Dame suggests they will try to limit the effect on earnings and regulatory capital by following accounting rules to the letter.
- Dionne Irving Bremyer named finalist for PEN/Faulkner Award for FictionDionne Irving Bremyer, an associate professor of English at Notre Dame, has been named a finalist for the 2023 PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the country’s most prestigious peer-juried prize for novels and short stories. The honor is for Irving Bremyer’s short story collection “The Islands,” which follows the lives of Jamaican women — immigrants or the descendants of immigrants — who have relocated all over the world to escape the ghosts of colonialism.
- Monisha Ghosh to testify before Congressional Subcommittee on Communications and TechnologyUniversity of Notre Dame Professor of Electrical Engineering Monisha Ghosh will testify at 9 a.m. Friday (March 10) during a Congressional Subcommittee on Communications and Technology hearing on “Defending America’s Wireless Leadership.”
- Upward trend in ‘deaths of despair’ linked to drop in religious participation, economist findsOver the past 20 years, the death rate from drug poisonings in the U.S. has tripled and suicide and alcoholic liver disease death rates have increased by 30 percent — particularly among middle-aged white Americans. Daniel Hungerman, professor of economics at the University of Notre Dame, and his co-authors studied the connection between a sharp downturn of religious participation in the late 1980s and the swift rise in these "deaths of despair" among white Americans ages 45 to 54 in the early 1990s.
