Photo: Roberto E. Rosales (‘96 BFA, ‘14 MA)
Not the Retiring Type After decades in government, James B. Lewis has an ambitious agenda for the Alumni Association By Leslie Linthicum
■ Lewis, a widower, has four adult children. ■ His late wife, Armandie (’77 RN), worked for UNM’s CASAA program. ■ At Gallup High School, he played both cornerback and running back for the football team, guard in basketball and competed in sprints, broad jump and javelin. ■ The B. in Lewis’s name stands for Beliven.
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he new president of UNM’s Alumni Association is a familiar name to New Mexico voters. James B. Lewis (’77 MPA) recently retired from a political career that spanned nearly four decades. He was elected twice as Bernalillo County treasurer in the early 1980s and then served as state treasurer for 13 years—New Mexico’s longest-serving treasurer and also the first (and still only) African-American to be elected to statewide office in New Mexico. Lewis also served on boards and in executive positions in the cities of Albuquerque and Rio Rancho, the state of New Mexico and the federal government. He was appointed by mayors, governors and presidents of the United States. In his years of public engagement, Lewis became known for his hard work, impeccable ethics, quiet charisma and closet-full of fine suits.
“There is no greater honor than being a public servant,” Lewis says, while acknowledging that politics and government are taking a beating in public opinion polls. “Do what’s legal, do what’s ethical and do what’s good for the community” has always been his motto. With that in mind, he has approached his government postings like a repairman. “My concern was to get in on the inside and work hard and repair things,” he says. “And when people said, ‘Oh, you’re a politician.’ I always said, ‘No, I’m a public servant.’” Lewis, who was born in Roswell, didn’t grow up in a political family. His grandfather served for 31 years in the U.S. Army and Air Force and his grandmother and mother were housekeepers at the New Mexico Military Institute. Lewis went to first grade in a racially segregated school in Roswell before