Professor Harry R. Lewis joined the Harvard faculty in the fall of 1974, and became Gordon McKay Professor of Computer Science in 1981. In 2003 he was honored with the title of Harvard College Professor in honor of his teaching excellence.

Lewis is the author of five books and numerous articles on various aspects of computer science. Over his more than thirty years of teaching he has taught thousands of Harvard undergraduates at the beginning of their careers in computer science. He has recently published a book about higher education: Excellence Without a Soul (PublicAffairs, 2006).From 1995-2003 Lewis served as Dean of Harvard College. In this capacity he oversaw the undergraduate experience, including residential life, career services, public service, academic and personal advising, athletics, and intercultural and race relations. He is a long time member of the College's Admissions Committee.
Lewis has been married since 1968 to Marlyn McGrath Lewis. They live in Brookline, Massachusetts and in northwest Montana and have two children. Lewis is a Trustee of the Roxbury Latin School, the oldest school in continuous existence in North America. He worries constantly about the Red Sox.

Prof. Lewis has just published "Excellence Without a Soul: How a Great University Forgot Education." He says that the answer to the question in his lecture title is "there is no societal consensus on the purpose of undergraduate education, except that everyone needs to have it!" Although his focus is on Harvard, his thoughts and questions are relevant to education in general. He finds that his audiences erupt in discussion spontaneously and that he is planning to encourage this dialog at Rice.