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He’s described as being a first-rate educator, a superb faculty member and an exceptional mentor by his department chair, and now Timothy E. Lewis, PhD, is the first Black professor to receive tenure in the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville Department of Political Science. 

“Dr. Lewis will become the Department's first Black tenured faculty member in its history,” said Ken Moffett, PhD, chair and professor. “This is a significant achievement that recognizes the quality of Dr. Lewis's body of work during his time at SIUE. I and my colleagues congratulate Dr. Lewis on this important achievement and root for him to have a successful career at SIUE.” 

The Southern Illinois University Board of Trustees approved Lewis’s promotion at its executive session on Wednesday, April 26. Lewis’s title of associate professor will be effective July 1 and his tenure on August 16. 

“When being deemed the first, I think about my family heritage, such as my late father, Mr. Perry Lewis II,” recalled Lewis. “He was the first Black maritime crane cooperator to integrate the Ports of Mobile in 1966. I think about the resiliency of my grandmother, Mrs. Stella Wasp, who survived the massacres of Black towns along the Florida panhandle, the most notable being Rosewood, Fla., fighting her way through the chilly swamps just to survive.” 

“I think about the fortitude of my mentors: Dr. Floyd Rodgers, Dr. Henry J. Findlay, and famed attorney Fred Gray,” he continued. “They all taught me that racism is weakened when we embrace Blackness and the God that made us! I think about every isolated and marginalized student who looked past my flaws, saw me as an example, and deemed me worthy to mentor them. I pray that if any comes after me, their yoke is easier and the burden lighter.” Lewis also credits Moffett as being a mentor and supporter. 

Lewis’s promotion was a result of his accomplishments at SIUE for almost six years, reiterated Moffett. 

“He was an excellent candidate for tenure, because he consistently did high quality, well-regarded work that has rightly received both internal and external recognition,” declared Moffett. “He is a great teacher and mentor to our students and has published several important research articles and book chapters (with more in varying stages of the publication process). His service has been exemplary, as evidenced by being recognized by a resolution from Missouri State House of Representatives. In addition, Dr. Lewis has had a significant, positive impact on how our University performs its antiracism, equity, diversity and inclusion (ADEI) responsibilities.” 

“I am the first, but I don’t want to be the only,” said Lewis. “I want to leverage my tenure acquisition, even more, to ensure that other Black scholars feel empowered in their desire for academic distinctions. I want to push harder to remove the comfortability of those who would engage in individual racism and dismantle the structural racism that often works against Black scholars in political science and the social sciences altogether.” 

Lewis’s promotion says several good things about the University and the Department, according to Moffett. 

“It demonstrates that SIUE and the Department support its early-career faculty members by providing the resources necessary to attain timely promotion and tenure,” explained Moffett. “It also demonstrates that SIUE has lived out one of the pillars of its strategic plan, having an excellent and diverse faculty and staff, by successfully recruiting, retaining and supporting Dr. Lewis through his career.”