Delano Eugene Lewis American lawyer, businessman and diplomat Date of Birth: 12.11.1938 Country: USA

Delano Eugene Lewis: Biography

Delano Eugene Lewis, an American lawyer, businessman, and diplomat, served as the United States Ambassador to South Africa from 1999 to 2001. Born on November 12, 1938, in Arkansas City, Kansas, Lewis was the only child of passionate Democrats. He attended Sumner High School in his hometown until 1956. Lewis then graduated from the University of Kansas in Lawrence in 1960, where he had Wilt Chamberlain as one of his classmates. He obtained his law degree from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka in 1963.

Lewis began his career as a lawyer in the U.S. Department of Justice and later worked at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. From 1966 to 1969, he served as the Deputy Director and Regional Director of the Peace Corps in Nigeria and Uganda. Lewis also worked as a legislative assistant to Senator Edward Brooke and Congressman Walter E. Fauntroy. In 1973, he joined The Chesapeake & Potomac Telephone Company as a public relations manager and eventually became its CEO in 1990.

In 1993, Lewis was appointed as the President and CEO of National Public Radio (NPR). While holding this position, he also served on the board of Apple Computer for three years. After leaving NPR in 1998, Lewis became a member of the board of directors for Black Entertainment Television and served on the boards of Colgate-Palmolive, Halliburton, and Eastman Kodak.

President Bill Clinton appointed Lewis as the U.S. Ambassador to South Africa, a role he held from 1999 to 2001. Interestingly, Lewis was sworn in by federal judge John Edwards Conway, who was his classmate at Washburn University. After moving to Las Cruces, New Mexico, Lewis and his wife opened a consulting firm called Lewis & Associates. In 2006, he became a Senior Fellow at the University of New Mexico and, a year later, founded and directed the Institute of International Relations at the university.

Lewis was involved in the creation and establishment of self-governance in Washington, D.C., in 1973. He chaired the Washington Political Autonomy Coalition, which was part of the Voice of Informed Community Expression group formed after the 1968 riots. As committee chairman and a former aide to Fauntroy, Delano testified before the U.S. Senate committees before the District of Columbia Self-Government Act was passed, which allowed the city to be governed by an elected mayor and a municipal council.

Despite his political involvement, Lewis ran as a candidate for the District of Columbia Council but lost to Marion Barry. Lewis married Gale Carolyn Jones in 1960, and they had four children: Delano Jr., Jeffrey, Brian, and Phil. After their marriage, Lewis, originally a Baptist, converted to Catholicism and received the Presidential Medal from The Catholic University of America in 1978. In the same year, he was named "Washingtonian of the Year" by The Washingtonian magazine. In January 2009, Lewis was honored as the "Kansan of the Year." One of his sons, Phil Lewis, is an actor known for his role as hotel manager Mr. Marion Moseby in the TV series "The Suite Life of Zack & Cody" and "The Suite Life on Deck".