NW Missouri Times

Missouri State Representative Ed Lewis will deliver the first lecture of the 2025-26 Distinguished Lecture Series at Northwest Missouri State University. The event is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Monday, October 13, in Room 210 of the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse. The lecture is open to the public at no cost.

Lewis, who chairs the House committee on elementary and secondary education, will present a talk titled “From the Classroom to the Capitol: An Educator’s View of State Government.” Before his legislative career, Lewis spent 32 years teaching chemistry and physics at high schools in Vandalia and Moberly. He also worked for three decades at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly.

Daniel Biegelson, a senior instructor of language, literature and writing at Northwest and a member of the Distinguished Lecture Series Committee, said Lewis brings an important viewpoint to campus. “Having spent decades in the classroom before moving into public service, Representative Lewis is uniquely positioned to reflect on the role of public education as both an individual and a societal good, and to help us see how practice and policy might inform one another,” Biegelson said. “Education is essential to human flourishing, a cornerstone of democratic life, and a foundation for a healthy and dynamic economy. The questions of how education is funded and how the legislative process works touch the lives of every student, teacher, administrator and citizen. To engage these questions is to take part in shaping our shared future.”

Lewis was born in Savannah, Missouri, attended high school in St. Joseph, earned his bachelor’s degree in education from University of Missouri-Columbia, and completed his master’s degree in chemistry at Pittsburg State University.

The Distinguished Lecture Series aims to enrich academic life by presenting speakers from various disciplines who address both specialized subjects and broader topics relevant across fields. The series provides opportunities for students, faculty members, staffers and community residents to hear from accomplished individuals with diverse experiences.

For more information about this event or future lectures in the series, interested parties are encouraged to contact Daniel Biegelson.