Purdue offered a whole host of development experiences for me. These have shaped me as a person, professional, and as a leader. I was able to pursue engineering, technical, and managerial disciplines simultaneously; lessons learned from education in an industrial setting transferred easily to leadership of a professional services firm, even one nearly 90 years old. At Purdue, I never felt part of a crowd - the personal counseling, nurturing, and consistently high and demanding standards all worked in a way that no other institution provided for me.
Daniel Lewis
Organizational Leadership & Supervision ’72
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Daniel Lewis

Organizational Leadership & Supervision ’72
President, Worldwide Commercial Business for Booz Allen Hamilton

As president of Booz Alllen Hamilton's Worldwide commercial Business since 1998, Dan Lewis leads the firm's management consulting business, which provides services in strategy, operations, and systems to the world's major international corporations.

Before his election to president, Lewis led the firm's Consumer and Engineered Products Group, a global industry practice that focuses on airline, aerospace, automotive, and industrials as well as consumer goods, services, and retailing companies. He has a long track record of managing complex, multidisciplinary transformation programs that encompass business strategy, operations, engineering, and organization for clients in Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States.

For a major commercial aerospace company, for example, Lewis led a large-scale transformation program that is fundamentally changing the client's approach to its business. These efforts have already delivered a 30% improvement in cycle time and a 25% reduction in costs. He also has worked with more than 20 of the world's largest airlines throughout the major changes that have occurred in this industry during the last 15 years. He helped his clients achieve large-scale cost reductions and prepare for impending deregulation in the early 1980s, evolve network strategies to create competitive sustainability in the mid-'80s and forge global alliances, integrate operations, and restructure in the '90s.

Lewis is a member of Booz Allen Hamilton's Commercial Leadership Team, a member of the firm's Operating Council, and a former director of the company. His personal practice centers around commercial aerospace, including suppliers, aircraft manufacturers, and airlines. He has led Booz Allen's operations practice worldwide, the engineered products practice, and, most recently, the consumer products practice. He has lectured and presented papers in the fields of operations management, business and economic forecasting, and materials management, and is a featured speaker at airline forums around the globe.

Lewis enjoys free time with his three sons. He's a proud new owner of a 54-foot Bertram yacht, which he has taken from Florida, through the Panama Canal, to Cabo San Lucas.

This was originally written for the Distinguished Technology Alumni Awards in 2003.