Sherry Lewis
Sherry Lewis has lectured in the Communication Department since 1988. Her main fields of teaching are Public Speaking (COMM 1301), Persuasion and Social Influence (COMM 2356) and Cinematic Auteurs (FILM 3390). In addition to lecturing in COMM 1301 on Communication Anxiety, Speech Outlining and the use of Power Point in presentations around campus, Ms. Lewis has developed hybrid courses, including an online public speaking course. She has served on the steering committee for the National Issues Forum every spring for 25 years. Her education began in Illinois and continued in Bolivia, South America. She graduated from Taipei American School in Taiwan and attended the University of Maryland before transferring to UTEP to complete a B.A. in Psychology and Drama and later a Master’s degree, also from UT El Paso. She has been involved in the interactive computer training of soldiers at Ft. Bliss on the operation and maintenance of the Patriot Missile system. One of her most challenging assignments was to instantly translate middle-management level job training from English to Spanish for a Chicago-based firm. She has performed in hundreds of radio and television ads in English and Spanish, and is well-versed in many dialects. Some call her the Voice of Texas, as she has recorded messages for TXDOT and the Texas Department of Human Services. In addition to acting in more than 150 plays, she has also lent her efforts to directing both comedy and drama, designing sets, costumes, makeup and hairstyles for modern and period pieces, and running technical assistance in lighting, sound and stage managing around town. Her childhood was spent in Bolivia, South America, where she learned fluent Spanish. As the daughter of a Foreign Service Officer in the U.S. State Department, she also lived in Taiwan, where she learned Kung Fu and Mandarin, and Laos, where she practiced a little French, before coming to El Paso. Her play about women in mathematics throughout history, titled “Count Her In!” has been performed in Texas and New Mexico, at national Math conferences. .Her book on the film directing efforts of Billy Wilder, “Watching Wilder,” is due to be published in 2019. She spends her spare time with her two sons and four grandchildren.
