Senior Associate Dean 玛莎·刘易斯 retires from 沃伊诺维奇学校 after decades long career

玛莎·刘易斯 spent her last day as senior associate dean of newbb电子平台’s 沃伊诺维奇学校 of Leadership and Public Affairs on December 31, 2020, 结束了在公共部门33年的工作. 

刘易斯在newbb电子平台工作了27年, 从研究生开始, 转变为教员和研究员, 最后，作为一名管理者. 在那个时候, she saw the Institute for Local Government Administration and Rural Development (ILGARD) transform into the 沃伊诺维奇 Center for Leadership and Public Affairs in 1998, 并帮助它发展成为多学科, 现在是一所以公共服务为中心的学校.

“The school has certainly transitioned into a very different organization from [ILGARD], but it still has the same mission essentially: to use the resources of the university and partnerships to work alongside communities and make people’s lives better in this region and in the state,刘易斯说. “我很荣幸能参与这项任务.”

Public education brought Lewis to the 沃伊诺维奇学校 in the first place, 学校的承诺让她留在了那里. Lewis was a high school teacher and first-generation college graduate working in Newark, 俄亥俄州, 她休了个假，进了newbb电子平台 公共管理硕士课程 in 1993. 

“I chose the MPA because I thought it [would give me] a really good professional skillset that would benefit me throughout my career,”她说。. “这一点我当然是对的.”

作为一名研究生, Lewis started working as a public management and policy specialist for ILGARD and has been employed by school ever since. A Southeast 俄亥俄州 native, she was inspired by the university’s dedication to the state and the region.

“It’s a great privilege to work with people across the university, [with] everybody focusing on what a public institution should do, what a state school should do: to educate and to provide support and technical assistance to the people of 俄亥俄州,”她说。. “It’s a great privilege to have worked at newbb电子平台 and especially at the 沃伊诺维奇学校 because of the wonderful people who are all there because they feel the same sense of purpose.”

To her coworkers and long-term associates, Lewis has been an invaluable resource.

吉姆·马奥尼, an 俄亥俄州 assistant professor of practice and former executive director of the nonprofit 为孩子而战, has collaborated with Lewis since 2001 when she led a research group for the nonprofit. 

“她给人的礼物是方便, 有很多人不能或不愿这样做,他说. “I think it’s part of what makes her such an incredible leader. Not only is she somebody who takes action and moves forward with things, but [she’s] someone who does a great deal of listening and understanding before she does.”

In 2017, Mahoney joined Lewis as a colleague at the 沃伊诺维奇学校. 

“在她(副院长)的角色中，, where there are so many people who have so many needs and are sometimes not all moving in the same direction, 她很善解人意, 愿意倾听, keeps positive attitude and always tries to do the things that make sense,马奥尼说. “Maybe the thing that I respect the most about her is she’s always a teacher first. She cares about students [and] she cares about what happens to kids.”

In her time at 俄亥俄州 Lewis worked on many projects related to educational policy research and evaluation for schools across the state.

“我的热情一直是公共教育，”她说. “It has been a privilege to work alongside K-12 educators even after I left teaching in the high school classroom.  That’s been a real privilege and I’m grateful that that I’ve been able to continue to pursue that throughout my career.”

珍妮弗·西蒙从1995年就认识刘易斯了, when she was a graduate student at ILGARD and Lewis was her project leader. 

“我刚进研究生院的时候, 我超级紧张, because it was my first ‘real job’ and Marsha just put me at ease,西蒙说. “她相信我，给了我更多的信心. She knew what it was like as a first-generation college student and knew what comes along with that.”

西蒙，项目经理 阿巴拉契亚地区委员会, an economic development partnership agency between the federal and state governments, has stayed in touch with Lewis and considers her a friend and mentor.

“She has this special way of working with people—she’s just down to earth, 这有助于他们把事情做好,西蒙说. “Most of the leaders in the region really respect Marsha and her expertise, 她的友善, 她的善良, her sense of responsibility to the region to do what needed to be done.”

虽然她即将从沃伊诺维奇学校退休, Lewis hasn’t left her passion for education behind; she’s thinking about returning to the K-12 classroom in the next few years and plans to take classes at the Patton College of 教育 to update her skills.

“I’m looking forward to new challenges and adventures,”她说。.

回顾她的职业生涯, Lewis hopes she will be remembered for creating lasting relationships with her colleagues and accomplishing important work in the region. 

“我认为在一天结束的时候，人们会记得, 以及他们关心什么, 你作为一个人是什么样的,马奥尼说.  “And while she has all those skills as a teacher—her students respect her and like her and learn from her—in addition to all that intellectual horsepower, 她是个了不起的人, 这就是人们记得的.”