Amanda Lewis: What does meaningful mentorship look like

When sociology and Black studies professor Amanda Lewis learned she was named UIC's Faculty Mentor of the Year, the news arrived unexpectedly. A student popped into her office with a simple message: "Congratulations."

"I was like, what are you talking about?" Lewis recalled, laughing.

She had yet to see the formal notification that arrived in her email inbox about 10 minutes earlier. She also had no idea students had been quietly organizing nominations on her behalf.

"It's a lot of work to nominate people for these awards," Lewis said. "The fact that they put the energy into doing it, it just felt like a big honor."

The annual award recognizes a faculty member who serves as "an outstanding, knowledgeable, empathetic guide and leverages their experience to inspire and support mentees in achieving their goals."

Lewis has served as director of the Institute for Research on Race and Public Policy in the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs for more than a decade. Her research explores how race shapes educational opportunities and how we negotiate ideas about race in everyday life.

This isn't Lewis' first recognition at UIC. In 2020, she was named a College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Professor. Throughout her career, she has received national grants and honors recognizing her scholarly impact.

Yet, Lewis said, the Faculty Mentor of the Year Award stands apart.

"This was probably the most meaningful," she said, noting it reflects both her students' experiences and her own journey.

After all, influential mentors shaped her own path, including her dissertation chair, the late Mark Chesler of the University of Michigan.

"I benefited a lot from some great mentoring," she said. "This feels like paying it forward."

Mentorship has long been central to Lewis' academic life, particularly her work with graduate students at UIC. Many of them have contributed to reports as part of the institute's State of Racial Justice in Chicago project, which chronicles the experiences and conditions of racial and ethnic groups in the city.

Over the decades, she has proudly watched former mentees build careers, families and lives beyond the university.

Her approach is rooted in high expectations paired with deep support. Drawing from her research on race, gender, class and education, she sees mentoring as a counter to systems that may too often overlook talent.

"We lose so much brainpower because we don't always see young people for who they are," she said. "Mentoring is making sure everything I've learned about those dynamics translates into how I work with students."

That philosophy plays out in practice, whether through weekly meetings, writing groups, shared research projects or her open-door policy.

"You can get half an hour with me anytime you need it," she tells her students. "We're not going to let you not succeed."

Mentoring is not about reproducing oneself, she said. Recalling an early mentee who chose a professional path outside of academia, the lesson was clear to her.

"My job wasn't to make them look like me," she said. "My job was to help them do what they wanted to do."