Lewis, Delano E., 1938-

Delano Eugene Lewis was born November 12, 1938 in Arkansas City, Kansas. Two years later the family moved to Kansas City, Kansas where Lewis graduated from Sumner High School. In 1960, Lewis graduated from the University of Kansas with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History, and, in 1963, he received his Doctorate of Jurisprudence from Washburn University School of Law. Later that year Lewis moved to Washington, D.C. where he worked as an attorney for the US Department of Justice. Beginning in 1966, Lewis worked for the Peace Corps, serving as Associate Director in Nigeria for one year and as Country Director in Uganda from 1967-1969; after leaving Uganda, he worked at the Peace Corps Headquarters as Chief, East & Southern Africa Division. Lewis then became a Legal Assistant to Senator Edward Brooke (MA) and, in 1971, became Chief of Staff for Representative Walter E. Fauntroy (D.C.).

In 1973, Lewis began work as a public affairs manager at Chesapeake and Potomac (C & P) Telephone; by 1988 he had risen to become the company's President and, in 1990, he also became its CEO. During his time at C & P, in 1978, Lewis took a leave of absence to serve as head of D.C. Mayor Marion Berry's transition team. In 1993, Lewis left C & P and became President of National Public Radio (NPR); in doing so, he became the first African American to be named to the position.

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