Professor Lewis is Dean of the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment at the University of Cape Town and was previously Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering.
Alison Lewis has a BSc(Chem Eng), MSc (Chem Eng) and PhD from the University of Cape Town and more than 20 years of teaching and research experience. Her technical research is focussed in the Crystallization and Precipitation Research Unit which has graduated 170 MSc, PhD and Honours students and co-authored more than 130 peer reviewed publications. She is also the lead author on the text book Lewis et al.
Prof Lewis is a Professional Engineer, a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), of the South African Academy of Engineering (FSAAE), the Southern African Institute of Mining and Metallurgy (FSAIMM) and the University of Cape Town College of Fellows.
In her role as Dean of the faculty, Professor Lewis is responsible for developing and implementing the strategic vision for the faculty as well as contributing to institutional leadership and management. One of her roles has been as convenor of the Vice Chancellor’s “Futures Think Tank`, which has been tasked to tackle the question: How should the way that we do our work at UCT change as a result of the rapid changes in the world?