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Biography
Trained in English literature, opera performance, and speech, Pamela Lewis has taught Professional Speaking as a core course in the Heinz School since 1987. Prior to full-time appointment in the Heinz School, Pamela taught English in the California public schools, English composition at Southern Connecticut State College, voice and Alexander Technique at Duquesne University, and Alexander Technique in the Schools of Music and Drama at Carnegie Mellon. Professor Lewis received her bachelor's degree in English literature from Middlebury College, cum laude, and a master's degree in English literature from Stanford. She earned an M.F.A. in Opera Performance and a Doctor of Arts in Voice and Speech from Carnegie Mellon University.She is a member of AmSAT (the American Society for the Alexander Technique) and APPAM (the Association of Public Policy Analysis and Management).
Pamela was awarded a VITA Dominion Award for volunteer contributions to the arts in March 2002. She has also received three Heinz School teaching awards: The Emil Limbach Award for Excellence in Teaching, 1989; the Martcia Wade Teaching Award, 2002; and the Martcia Wade Teaching Award in 2003. Pamela is internationally recognized for her work in the Alexander Technique and has given numerous presentations at national and international meetings on the Technique's effectiveness. Audiences include The International Congress of the Alexander Technique, Hebrew University; the Department of Physical Therapy, Forbes Metropolitan Hospital; the Center for Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Pittsburgh; the National Marfan Foundation (annual meeting), Pittsburgh; and the New Music-Theater Ensemble, Minneapolis.
Pamela is currently examining the correlation between participation in Professional Speaking and development of students’ leadership skills. Earlier research has focused primarily on the Alexander Technique and its effectiveness in improving psychophysical efficiency in daily activity.
Pamela has developed a flexible Professional Speaking curriculum that integrates traditional principles of rhetoric with specific needs of students in public policy and arts management. Professional Speaking has also been adapted for students in computational finance and is required for seniors who are candidates for CMU’s Computational Finance Degree. She has also provided professional speaking training to trainees and panelists of the Denali Initiative (funded by the Kaufmann and Kellogg Foundations) and a variety of Carnegie Mellon audiences including the Undergraduate Research Initiative; the Summer Leadership Institute; the Logic and Computation Symposium, Department of Philosophy; Career Day for Graduate Students; Graduate Student Seminar Series; and Graduate students and faculty, Mechanical Engineering.
Interest in the Professional Speaking curriculum has resulted in invitations to present course workshops at national meetings for NASPAA (National Association of Schools of Public Affairs and Administration) and APPAM.
Pamela chaired the Bach Choir of Pittsburgh Board of Directors from 1997-2001 and served as a Director from 1994-2003. She is past Membership Chair and member of the Board of Directors of the American Society for the Alexander Technique (AMSAT, formerly NASTAT) and a Past President of the Board of Trustees for the First Unitarian Church of Pittsburgh.
Selected Publications
“Effective Public Speaking: What Does It Take?" Carnegie Mellon University Graduate Student Newsletter (Volume 2, Issue 3, February, 1997).
"Changes in Self-Perception: The Use of Self-Portraits in Academic Courses on the Alexander Technique," Back to Basics, ed. by Schmuel Nelkin. The Congress Papers, Fifth International Congress of the Alexander Technique, 1996.
"Sticking to Principle: A Perspective on Working with Musicians," NASTAT News (Issue #27, Winter, 1995).
"Reflections on Teaching," Reflections: Essays by Award-Winning Carnegie Mellon University Educators, edited by Susan Ambrose and Rea Freeland. Carnegie Mellon University Teaching Center, 1994.
"Teaching the Alexander Technique for Academic Credit," NASTAT News (Issue #12, Summer, 1991).
"Reflections on the 1993 Annual General Meeting," NASTAT News (Issue #21, Summer, 1993).
"The Alexander Influence: A Comparative Study," Journal of Research in Singing (VII, 2, June 1984).
"Using Writing to Improve Singing," NATS Bulletin (XXXVIII, 2, Nov/Dec 1981).
Education
Doctor of Arts, Voice and Speech, Carnegie Mellon University
