What’s Going to be Your Legacy? 

Julian Lewis

Former Director, U-2 Operations
Aerospace Engineering Teacher, STEM Academy of Hollywood

Long gone are Julian Lewis’ leisurely days on the golf course, although he still gets in a round in the mornings before heading in to STEM Academy of Hollywood, where he teaches aerospace engineering. A former Lockheed Martin aerospace engineer of 34 years, Lewis is using his industry experience to inspire students.

Walk into Lewis’ classroom and you notice posters and photos of aircraft covering the walls, drones sit in a corner, while model airplanes and a wind tunnel are center-stage. He begins his class with a technique he used with his team in industry called “plain talk” where students discuss current events. Lewis teaches both theory and practice.

It is clear he has inspired an interest in engineering and aerospace in his students. One student shared, “I never really knew what was out there, in terms of the field. He tells us about how he got there and I can see myself doing that a few years from now.”

Lewis grew up in the South Bronx and was inspired by an eighth grade teacher who was a pilot. He says that the satisfaction of working on amazing aircraft equals the satisfaction he gets from watching his students become engaged in aerospace.

See the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waf-mAvcNjM

EnCorps STEM Teachers Program recruits, selects, develops and supports the best and brightest STEM professionals as an innovative, long-term solution to the shortage of high quality, impactful educators for under-resourced students in high needs schools. Find out more or apply for the STEM Teaching Fellowship at https://www.encorps.org/ or reach out to Bethany at bethany.orozco@encorps.org.