It’s a new era at the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. This year the venerable $5.3 billion New York-based foundation chose as only its sixth president an esteemed scholar of African American studies, Earl Lewis, to lead its efforts to advance higher education and scholarship, libraries and scholarly communications, conservation and the environment, museums and art conservation and performing arts.
Having had a 29-year career in academia, with appointments at UC-Berkeley and the University of Michigan, as well as his last position as provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of History and African American Studies at Emory, Lewis is uniquely qualified to cultivate partnerships to keep the foundation at the forefront of its programmatic concerns.
Lewis is the author of, among numerous other essays, books and monographs, “In Their Own Interests: Race, Class and Power in Twentieth Century Norfolk” and “Defending Diversity: Affirmative Action at the University of Michigan.” He brings to the New York philanthropic community a highly informed voice on race and historical social movements; service as a trustee of the foundation and with a broad cross section of civic, academic and social organizations. In addition to settling in at the Mellon Foundation, he is currently working on a book-length study of black schoolteachers from 1896-1954.
The interlocutor for our CEO Interview Series is the penetrating and perspicacious Darren Walker, the newly-named President of The Ford Foundation. Earl and Darren will discuss not only the innovative approaches The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation plans for the future, but also how his background, values and philosophy inform his plans.
We will leave ample time for audience discussion; an informal wine-and-cheese reception will follow the formal program.
Explore
- What Earl Lewis and the foundation’s trustees envision as the most urgent challenges and opportunities facing our sector and the world
- How the foundation’s key role in the development of JSTOR, ASTstor, and Ithaka have changed academia and what the trajectory for them for other innovations
Part of Philanthropy New York’s CEO Interview Series.
This program is "Completely Private."
Presenters
- Earl Lewis, President, The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
- Darren Walker (Moderator), President, Ford Foundation
Designed for
All interested funders.