His mission for the program was to study the fishes of Illinois and to train graduate students in fisheries science and aquaculture.
Notable work includes research on the effect of winter on fishes in large rivers.
[2] He also produced many reports on aquaculture techniques such as recirculating biofiltration systems for hybrid striped bass.
[3] Lewis served for a time as chair of the department of zoology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, and was elected president of the American Fisheries Society in 1983.
He retired from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 1983 and started two fish farms in North Carolina.