SEI’s Grace Lewis Elected IEEE Computer Society President
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September 30, 2024—The IEEE Computer Society (CS) last week announced that Grace Lewis, a principal researcher at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) and lead of the SEI’s Tactical and AI-Enabled Systems Initiative, was elected the society’s president for 2026. Lewis will serve a one-year term, preceded by a year as president-elect.
IEEE CS is the largest community of computer scientists and engineers, with more than 375,000 members around the world. It publishes dozens of magazines and journals and runs many professional conferences and other programs to empower professionals in computer science and engineering and advance the field.
As president, Lewis will oversee programs and operations for IEEE CS. She will also be a nonvoting member of most of the society’s program boards and committees.
“The mission of the IEEE Computer Society is to engage engineers, scientists, academia, and industry professionals from all areas of computing in activities leading to personal growth and technology advancement,” said Lewis. “The end goal is to advance the field of computing through advancement of the people.”
Lewis said she plans to focus on three things she believes are crucial to the society’s mission and to innovation in the field: early-career professionals, industry participation, and diversity and inclusion. “A personal goal of mine, as a first-generation American, is to bring the activities of the society to Latin America, a region with huge intellectual capital but without a lot of the advantages that we have here in the United States,” she said.
Lewis has a long history with the IEEE CS. She currently serves as the society’s first vice president and diversity and inclusion chair. Lewis has also served on the Board of Governors since 2020 and was vice president of technical and conference activities from 2021 to 2023. She has received the society’s Golden Core Award and Spirit Award.
“Over an impressive twenty-three-year career at the SEI, Grace has demonstrated both technical and leadership excellence,” said Paul Nielsen, the SEI’s director and chief executive officer. “She will bring those same qualities to the biggest professional society for computing. Grace’s election as the 2026 president of the IEEE Computer Society recognizes her competency to guide the computing profession in a rapidly changing landscape. Grace’s SEI colleagues and I congratulate her on this well-deserved honor and opportunity.”
