Jenny M. Lewis

Jenny M Lewis FASSA is a political scientist, academic, and author. She is Professor Emerita (Policy & Society) in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She was previously a professor of Public Policy and the Academic Director of Scholarly and Social Research Impact in Chancellery Research & Enterprise at the University of Melbourne.

Lewis' research focuses on public policy, with a particular emphasis on governance, the policy-making process, policy networks, and the politics of performance measurement. She is the author of numerous publications, including Innovation in City Governments: Structures, Networks, and Leadership, Academic Governance: Disciplines and Policy, and Getting Welfare to Work: Street-Level Governance in Australia, the UK, and the Netherlands.

Lewis is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. She received a lifetime achievement award from the Australian Political Studies Association in 2025 and the Routledge lifetime achievement award from the International Research Society for Public Management in 2023. She is a past president of both of these associations, as well as a previous board member of the Institute of Public Administration Australia, Victoria. Lewis was also awarded the Pip Pattison research award by the Australian Network for Social Network Analysis in 2025. She serves on the board of several journals and is Editorial Strategy Advisor for the Australian Journal of Public Administration.