Charles Ashby Lewis
Charles Ashby Lewis is chair of the Lewis-Sebring Family Foundation, which he founded in 1996 along with his wife, Penny Bender Sebring. Lewis currently serves on the boards of trustees or directors of Amherst College[1], Chicago Public Media[2], the Chicago Symphony Orchestra[3], and the Museum of Science & Industry (Chicago)[4]. Formerly, he served on the boards of trustees or directors of the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation International, Ravinia Festival, and the University of Chicago. He is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, the Chicago Club, and Glen View Club.
Lewis is most notably known for urging former President Barack Obama to run for presidency even though it was early in his career[5]. And has been a supporter and donor to the Obama Foundation[6] and University of Chicago Obama Foundation Scholars[7]. And he was a member of the Obama National Finance Committee for both presidential campaigns, has written limited-circulation commentaries called Obamagrams, PetePosts, and BidenBriefs, and has argued that the “education exoskeleton” metaphor is more accurate than the “education ecosystem” one.
Early life and education
Lewis was born in Orange, New Jersey, and was primarily raised in Loudonville, New York. He graduated from Shaker High School, Latham, New York, received a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College (1964) and an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania (1966). He received an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Amherst in 2003 and an honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Grinnell College in 2015[8].
Career
From 1966 to 1969, Lewis was an officer in the U.S. Army’s Medical Service Corps, attaining the rank of captain. In 1969, he was assistant to the president and CEO of Computer Technology Inc., Skokie IL., which was sold in early 1970. That year, he joined the investment bank White Weld & Co. as an associate in Chicago. White, Weld was purchased in 1978 by Merrill Lynch & Co., where Lewis worked in its Chicago office until 2004, leaving as a vice chairman of investment banking.
Legacy
Lewis has made many contributions to education including a $5 million gift to the University of Chicago to support the University's groundbreaking work to improve urban schooling in Chicago and across the country in 2010[9]. A combined $1 million gift to the City of Evanston's educational research-practice partnership[10].
He established Amherst College's Lewis-Sebring Professorship in Latin American and Latino Culture[11].
Grinnell College also created a Business & Finance Community to help students and recent alumni discover how their liberal arts education can propel them into successful business careers with a $450,000 gift from Penny Bender Sebring, a 1964 Grinnell graduate and life trustee, and her husband, Charles Ashby Lewis[12].
Lewis is the Chair of Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Diversity Committee, and funds the Diversity Fellowship Program[13]
Awards
Lewis has received honorary degrees from Amherst College and Grinnell College. And he received the key to the City of Evanston, Illinois.
References
- ↑ "Amherst College Corporation and Board of Trustees". Amherst College. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ↑ "Chicago Public Media's Board of Directors". WBEZ Chicago. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Board of Trustees". Chicago Symphony Orchestra. Chicago Symphony Orchestra Association. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
- ↑ "Charles Lewis". Crain's Chicago Business. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Obama's rapid rise to eminence". The Christian Science Monitor. August 27, 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Contributors ($1,000,000+)". Obama Foundation. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "2022-23 class of University of Chicago Obama Foundation Scholars announced". UChicago News. University of Chicago. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Penny Bender Sebring '64 and Charles Ashby Lewis, Doctor of Laws". Grinnell College. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Lewis–Sebring gift supports work to improve urban schooling". UChicago News. University of Chicago. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Expanding the Evanston-Northwestern education partnership". Northwestern University. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Stavans Named Lewis-Sebring Professor in Latin American and Latino Culture at Amherst College". Amherst College. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
- ↑ "Chicago couple funds career-focused program at Grinnell College". Business Records. Retrieved 30 January 2023.
- ↑ "CSO's diversity program is ready for next player". Chicago Tribune. August 21, 2005. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
External links
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