Please join us for the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Celebration with keynote speaker Dr. Anthony Lewis.
Anthony Lewis, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools
Dr. Anthony Lewis is originally from Talladega, Alabama. He is married to Tiffany and they are the proud parents of six children. Dr. Lewis received a Bachelor of Science and Masters of Education degree in Special Education and a degree in Educational Leadership from Alabama State University (Montgomery, Alabama). He also was selected and completed the Instructional Leadership Academy with Samford University (Birmingham, Alabama). Dr. Lewis received his Doctorate of Philosophy degree in Educational Leadership and Policy Analysis from the University of Missouri (Columbia, Missouri).
He began his educational career in Montgomery, Alabama as a high school Special Education Teacher. He was later named Assistant Principal then Principal of what would become a high performing high poverty (90/90/90) elementary school. Because of his successes in Alabama, he was recruited to work in the Kansas City, Missouri School District where he served as Principal, Director of Elementary Schools, and Assistant Superintendent. While there, he assisted the district in receiving enough points to be fully accredited – which had not happened in close to thirty years. In 2017, Dr. Lewis was selected, completed, and received certification from the American Association of School Administrators (AASA)/The School Superintendents Association’s Urban Superintendents Academy in partnership with Howard University.
In January 2018, the Lawrence Public Schools School Board unanimously approved Dr. Lewis to become the ninth Superintendent of Lawrence Public Schools. Lawrence Public Schools in the 7th largest school district in the state, 2nd largest employer in the city, and serves nearly 12,000 students, 1,800 staff, and 23 schools. In November 2019, Governor Laura Kelly appointed Dr. Lewis to the Kansas African American Affairs Commission. The commission devises strategies to address the public policy concerns of the African American community through partnerships with state agencies, corporations and foundations. It also assists with programs, grants and research. In June 2020, Governor Laura Kelly also appointed Dr. Lewis to the Commission on Racial Equity and Justice. The Commission is tasked with studying issues of racial equity and justice in Kansas and will begin its work focusing on law enforcement-community relations. In September 2020, the National School Public Relations Association named Dr. Lewis as one of twenty-four Superintendents to Watch. This program honors superintendents who possess dynamic, fast-paced leadership with strong communication at its core, use communication technology in innovative and effective ways, and engage and inform their school communities with new tools combined with tried-and-true techniques. In the spare time he does come by, he enjoys being an Adjunct Professor at the University of Kansas in the School of Education and Human Sciences, spending time with his family, reading, and learning to play the bass guitar.