Mr. Lewis served ten years in the Federal Government from 1963 until 1973. He served as an attorney with the Dept. of Justice; as an attorney in the Office of Compliance in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Associate Director of the US Peace Corps in Nigeria and Country Director of US Peace Corps in Uganda; Legislative Assistant to US Senator Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts and Chief of Staff for Delegate Walter Fauntroy of the District of Columbia.
From 1973 until 1984, Delano Lewis was an executive with the C& P Telephone Company in Washington DC, a subsidiary of AT&T. From 1984 until 1994, he was an Officer of Bell Atlantic (now Verizon) retiring in 1994 as President and CEO of the District of Columbia operations. In 1994, Mr. Lewis was named President and CEO of National Public Radio in Washington, DC.
In June 1999, President Clinton nominated Delano Lewis as US Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa. The United States Senate confirmed him on November 10th, 1999. He assumed his Ambassadorship in Pretoria, South Africa on December 22, 1999, and served until his retirement from Diplomatic Service on July 13, 2001.
Mr. Lewis has been a recipient of many awards and honorary degrees, most notably, Washingtonian of the Year in 1978. He received a Distinguished Alumni Citation from his alma mater, The University of Kansas, in 1994. There are numerous honorary degrees from such institutions as Barry University, Bowie State University, Washburn University, George Washington University, Kent State University, NOVA Southeastern University, Southern Illinois University, and Lafayette College. Presently, he serves on the boards of Colgate Palmolive, and American Institutes for Research.
Delano Lewis and his wife Gayle reside in Las Cruces, NM and he is President and CEO of his consulting practice, Lewis Associates, Inc. The Lewis’ have 4 adult sons and 11 grandchildren.