Jesse W. Lewis Jr. is the Managing Partner and Executive Producer of Fresh Eye, Clear Lens Productions that conducts research and makes documentary films about important but little-known aspects of South African history.

Since his first visit to South Africa in 2003, he has written articles and lectured at the University of Stellenbosch, University of Cape Town, and the University of Pretoria, as well as for various historical, professional and civic groups in South Africa, Rotterdam and Singapore. His articles have been published in South African newspapers.

Mr. Lewis has worked for The Washington Post, including assignments in Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Later, he was an American diplomat, serving in Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, and Greece.

In 1983, he founded a crisis management consultancy firm specializing in the international ocean transportation industry. It was a shipping accident in Cape Town in 2003 that took him to South Africa for the first time.

For 10 years until 2004, Mr. Lewis was a Visiting Professor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy. He is also the author of the book The Strategic Balance In The Mediterranean, an analysis of naval power in the Mediterranean Sea during the Cold War.