Gary Lewandowski

Gary Lewandowski, Ph.D., serves as Xavier’s Associate Provost for Strategic Initiatives. Lewandowski earned his Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and B.S. in mathematics from the University of Chicago. He joined Xavier as a faculty member in Mathematics and Computer Science in 1994, earning the rank of Professor in 2006. Lewandowski’s passion is teaching undergraduates at all levels from introductory computer science to advanced electives. A strong proponent of community-engaged experiential learning, Lewandowski’s human-centered making course partnered with Cincinnati non-profit Crayons 2 Computers to introduce students to user-centered design techniques, 3d printing, and prototyping as students designed real products. Lewandowski has supervised numerous student research projects and has published multiple research articles with student co-authors. Lewandowski’s research spans user-centered design, applications of algorithms, parallel and distributed computing, and computer science education. His research efforts have been supported by multiple NSF grants.

Lewandowski has worked on institution-building initiatives to increase participation in STEM while strengthening Xavier’s position for the future. Beyond the re-design of Xavier’s computer science B.S. degree, Lewandowski also co-designed the computer science B.A. degree that encourages double majors in humanities and computer science. He is co-designer of Xavier’s Actuarial Science program, co-designer of Xavier’s cybersecurity program, and co-designer and founding director of Xavier’s Data Science Honors program. All of these programs were designed in conversation with industry partners, include experiential learning, and leverage Xavier’s Jesuit Catholic core for discussions of ethical responsibilities. To further encourage broad participation in STEM, Lewandowski has been the PI on a Noyce Teacher Fellowship grant (2012-17) to encourage STEM majors to become teachers in high need school districts, on a Howard Hughes Medical Instituted Inclusive Excellence grant (2022-2028) to drive structural changes in STEM programs for greater retention in the first year, and on two Choose Ohio First grants (2021-2026) that provide significant scholarships to STEM majors from Ohio with high financial need.

Lewandowski served as chair of the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science from 2006-12. He served as Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences from 2017-2021. Leveraging his experience in innovation techniques and user-centered design, Lewandowski has assisted numerous task forces during and after his time as Associate Dean, developing specific design sprint techniques that incorporate the shared governance essential to an academic institution. The task forces included a program review process for the College, student success initiatives for increased student thriving and retention, and the ongoing university strategic plan process.