The MSU administrator who started University Services is retiring after 36 years with MSU.
University Services Director John L. Lewis ended his tenure on July 1. His retirement will become official in January.
“My biggest accomplishment was to have developed a team of managers and employees that are 100 percent committed to the growth of the university,” Lewis said.
University Services controls much of the university’s services and recreation programs.
Running the department was a very big responsibility, but Lewis was dedicated to his job, said Carolyn Eckstein-Soule, executive manager for University Services.
“It’s a very diverse unit, responsible for a wide variety of customer services,” Eckstein-Soule said. “John’s philosophy has always been to do what’s best for the welfare of the university.”
Lewis helped build the Angell University Services Building in 1988. The building enabled the major departments of University Services to work under one roof, said Bev Garrison, administrative associate of University Services.
“The building allowed departments to consolidate and better utilize their resources,” Garrison said. “Before the construction of the building, the university services departments were scattered around campus.”
Lewis was born in Plainwell in 1940. He graduated from Allegan High School in 1958 and attended the University of Oklahoma with aspirations of being a farmer.
A year later he transferred to MSU. In 1964 he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business, and in 1966 he finished his education with a master’s degree in business and administration.
After graduation Lewis began his work with the Physical Plant Division at MSU and by 1972 he was asked to form a new division at MSU, University Services.
Lewis also was instrumental developing some of the most recognizable facilities at MSU. He oversaw the construction of MSU Tennis Facility as the main consultant in the structural design and worked on the construction of the Breslin Center, which opened in 1989.
Lewis said the biggest joy his position provided was the everyday challenges of improving the university. But now he plans on encountering new challenges on his 180-acre farm in Charlotte.
“I am going back to my first love of farming,” Lewis said. “I am going to do things I haven’t had time to do in 36 years.”
Since Lewis announced his retirement, MSU confirmed it will shift the Breslin Center, both Forest Akers East and West golf courses and the MSU Tennis Facility from the University Services to the Division of Housing and Food Services.
A ceremony will be held for his retirement from 4-6 p.m Wednesday at Kellogg Center.
