Diplomatic and Academic Career
After working for several years as a labour mediator, columnist and broadcaster, in 1984 Lewis was appointed Canadian Ambassador to the United Nations by Governor General Jeanne Sauvé, on the advice of Prime Minister Brian Mulroney. Lewis served at the post until 1988. In the 1980s, he became a familiar voice appearing with Dalton Camp and Eric Kierans as part of a weekly political panel on Peter Gzowski's CBC Radio show, Morningside.
From 1995 to 1999, Lewis was Deputy Director of UNICEF. From 2001 until 2006, he worked as United Nations Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. In his role as Special Envoy, he worked to draw attention to the HIV/AIDS crisis and to convince leaders and the public that they have a responsibility to respond. He has been widely praised for his effectiveness in this role. In 2005 he adapted his Massey Lectures in a book titled "Race Against Time", where he describes the disjuncture between what the international community promises and their actions in responding to the pandemic in Africa.
In May 2006, Lewis joined the Faculty of Social Sciences at McMaster University as a Scholar-in-Residence. Also in 2006, he was elected a Senior Fellow of Massey College in the University of Toronto. In 2009, Lewis strongly criticized Pope Benedict XVI's assertion that condom use only makes the AIDS crisis worse.
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