Shirley A. R. Lewis

Shirley Ann Redd Lewis (née Redd; born June 11, 1937) was an American educator, academic administrator, and college president. In 1994, she was the first female president of Paine College, a private, historically black Methodist college in Augusta, Georgia. Her research focus was in language acquisition in education. She also held roles at Vanderbilt Peabody College of Education and Human Development, and Meharry Medical College.

Early life and education Shirley Ann Redd was born on June 11, 1937 in Winding Gulf, West Virginia. Her parents were Thelma Danese Biggers Redd and Ronald F. Redd, her father worked as a school teacher. Within the 41 schools in the United Negro College Fund system, she was one of four women elected to president. She served as president of Paine College until 2007.

Files of Lewis’s work with the United Methodist Church Black College Fund are located in Nashville, Tennessee. Files from her presidency of Paine College are located at the campus.

Personal life She married Ronald McGhee Lewis in 1963, and together they had one daughter. In 2022, her husband Ronald Lewis died at age 87 in Montclair, New Jersey.