Paul J. Lewi (4 January 1938 – 28 August 2012) was a Belgian scientist, who elaborated Spectral Map Analysis in 1975 and was one of the cofounders of chemometrics in 1983.
His parents, Leo Lewi and Mariette Devocht, were professional artists and teachers.
He graduated as Industrial Engineer in Nuclear Chemistry at the Hoger Rijksinstituut voor Technisch Onderwijs en Kernenergiebedrijven Mol, in 1960 and as a Candidate in Mathematical Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven in 1962.
He became head of the Information Science department (1973) and finally vice-president of the Center for Molecular Design (CMD) in 1995, which he founded together with Paul Janssen.
He is named as co-inventor of a novel series of anti-HIV compounds (Diarylpyrimidines) including dapivirine,[2] etravirine and rilpivirine.