Throughout Lewis' professional career, her primary area of research has been applied policy research with a specific focus on the intersection of gender, education, and development policies in developing countries.[4] Lewis believed that Jewel Limar Prestage was her strongest influence as a political scientist due to nurturing her interest in women and politics, gender, education, and development policies.[4] In 1962, Lewis became an Education Officer at the Ministry of Education in Uganda, and then from 1965 until 1967 was a Director at the Tororo Girls School in Tororo, Uganda.[5] While in Uganda, she was also part of the Teachers for East Africa Program.[2] She taught at Nabumali High School and worked with British, Ugandan, and American teachers from 1962-1964.[6] Then, she was recruited as Director of Guidance at Tororo Girls' School in Tororo, Uganda from 1965-1967. Even though she studied African history and politics prior to her positions, she had no formal teaching training outside of 1 year as a graduate teaching assistant.[6]
From the late 1960s until the early 1980s, Lewis was a faculty member at a series of institutions, including the University of New Orleans, Southern University, Atlanta University, and the University of Zambia.[2] In 1968, Lewis was on the faculty of Southern University and met Mae King for the first time as a PhD student there.[7] Together, they worked on a conference on African International Studies in Ethiopia as well as research on Hurricane Katrina.[7] In 1983, she was a Senior Fulbright Lecturer at the National University of Lesotho, where she helped to establish the Women's Research Collective.[2][3] Throughout the 1980s, Lewis taught graduate courses on Education and Development and the Politics of Education. [8]
After a year as a Distinguished Faculty Fellow at the United Negro College Fund, Lewis became an international development consultant, assuming a series of leadership roles in organizations like the Council for International Exchange of Scholars.[3] In 1988 she returned to academia, becoming a professor at Dillard University.[2] In 1989, she moved to Clark Atlanta University, where she would ultimately become a professor emerita.[9][10] Lewis was twice the Interim Dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at Clark Atlanta University: once from 1989 to 1990, and again in 1993.[2][11] Between 1995 and 1997, Lewis worked at Morris Brown College as Vice President for Academic Affairs.[12]
In 2010, United States President Barack Obama appointed Shelby F. Lewis to the 12-person J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board which supervises programs like the Fulbright Program under the Fulbright–Hays Act of 1961.[3]
Lewis served on the inaugural Editorial Advisory Board of the National Review of Black Politics, while affiliated with the African Renaissance and Diaspora Network Board.[13]
In 2018, NAFSA: Association of International Educators awarded Lewis the NAFSA International Education Award for Leadership and Collaboration,[14] which "honors the contributions of an international educator to international exchange on a global scale".[15]
^"Handbook"(PDF). Clark Atlanta University Department of African American Studies, Africana Women's Studies, and History. 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2020.
^Holden Jr., Matthew (1994). The Challenge to Racial Stratification. Transaction Publishers. p. 277. ISBN1560006765.
^Marsh, Clinton E. (15 April 1996). Harford County, Maryland Homeless and Shelter Survey: Housing and Shelter in a Community in Transition. UPA. p. x. ISBN0761801235.