Oct. 3, 2025
Northwest Missouri State University will host Missouri Rep. Ed Lewis, the chairman of elementary and secondary education, as the first installment of its 2025-26 Distinguished Lecture Series.
Lewis’s lecture, “From the Classroom to the Capitol: An Educator’s View of State Government,” will begin at 6 p.m. Monday, Oct. 13, in Room 210 of the Carl and Cheryl Hughes Fieldhouse. It is free and open to the public.
Daniel Biegelson, a senior instructor of language, literature and writing at Northwest who serves on Northwest’s Distinguished Lecture Series Committee, said Lewis offers a unique perspective as both an educator and a legislator.
“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, a Republican from Moberly, was elected to the Missouri House of Representatives in 2020. Before serving in the legislature, Lewis was a high school educator for 32 years in Vandalia and Moberly, teaching chemistry and physics. He also worked at Central Christian College of the Bible in Moberly for 30 years.
Born in Savannah, Missouri, he attended high school in St. Joseph. He earned a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed a master’s degree in chemistry at Pittsburg State University.
The objective of the Distinguished Lecture Series is to enhance the academic environment through individual disciplines and interdisciplinary topics. Supported by the Office of the Provost and the Student Activities Council, the series offers the Northwest campus and surrounding communities with opportunities to hear from extraordinary individuals from throughout the globe. Scholars, world travelers and leaders in their fields visit the Northwest campus to share their wisdom, insight and experiences.
For more information about the lecture, contact Biegelson at dbiegel@nwmissouri.edu.