ACC welcomes its inaugural American Council on Education (ACE) Fellow, Dr. Desmond Lewis. Lewis will serve as ACC’s ACE Fellow during the 2022-23 academic year. He is one of 46 fellows selected nationwide.

The ACE Fellows Program is designed to strengthen institutional and leadership capacity in American higher education by identifying and preparing faculty and staff for senior positions in college and university administration. More than 80% of ACE Fellows have served as senior leaders of colleges and universities. 

With 25 years of higher education experience, Lewis has extensive knowledge in the areas of developmental education; accelerated learning program design; English; History; ESOL; Music Business; and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI).

“We’re honored Dr. Lewis selected ACC for his fellowship. It is a testament to our reputation as a national leader for excellence in teaching and learning and our commitment to innovation,” says Dr. Monique Umphrey, ACC provost/executive vice chancellor of Academic & Student Affairs. “As an ACE Fellow, Dr. Lewis will work closely with ACC leadership to understand and experience our culture, policies, and decision-making processes. He will be invited to participate in key meetings and special projects, engage in seminars and case studies and share his insights and expertise. We look forward to working with him along his leadership journey and growing together to make our educational system even stronger.”

In addition to serving as ACE Fellow, Lewis also is associate vice chancellor of College Readiness at Houston Community College and a Fellow of the New Leaders Academy (NLA) at the University of Michigan which focuses on DEI in conjunction with the American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education. 

Lewis has completed the University of California at Berkeley’s The Innovation Organization Seminar, received diversity and inclusion training from Cornell University’s ILR Workshop, and serves as Houston Community College’s Quality Enhance Plan’s co-chair. 

Lewis aspires to impact higher education reform and developmental education reform by advancing research on co-requisite design and other accelerated learning approaches for marginalized populations. He has authored or contributed to several developmental education and composition publications with Cengage Publishing. He is dedicated to service and working tirelessly to help all people achieve their goals and positively impact the community.

Lewis holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from Texas Southern University, a Masters of Arts in History from Texas Southern University, and a Doctorate in Community College Leadership from Ferris State University.

Please leave Dr. Lewis a message to welcome him below.