Robert Y. Lewis Has Been Promoted To Associate Teaching Professor
- Posted by Jesse Polhemus
- on April 24, 2026
Brown CS is happy to announce that with the anticipated approval of Brown’s Corporation and effective as of July 1, 2026, Robert Y. Lewis has been promoted to Associate Teaching Professor.
Rob joined the Brown CS faculty in 2021 after completing postdoctoral research at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. His doctorate in Pure and Applied Logic (2018) is from Carnegie Mellon University and his Master’s degrees, from the same institution, are in Mathematics (2015) and Logic, Computation, and Methodology (2014). He also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics and Philosophy from Rice University (2010).
Rob’s research interests fall broadly into the category of formal methods, more specifically, in interactive theorem proving and automated reasoning. He considers himself a logician, a theoretical computer scientist, and a mathematician, though he publishes primarily in computer science. Rob’s goal as a researcher is to adapt the logics, tools, and paradigms of formal methods in computer science to attack mathematical problems. He envisions a future where trustworthy computer assistance in mathematical research is commonplace. The routine use of proof assistants, he believes, will increase the reliability of proofs; large libraries of formal proofs will be used for reference and training by students and AI programs; advances in automated reasoning will do away with tedious parts of proving; the human-built edifice of mathematics will rest on solid, computably-checkable foundations.
Rob’s teaching at Brown CS has included CSCI 0220 Discrete Structures and Probability, CSCI 1260 Compilers and Program Analysis, and CSCI 1715 Formal Proof and Verification. Most recently, he was the recipient of the 2025 AI for Math Fund (“An AI-focused tactic language for writing proofs”) and an NSF FMitF Track III grant (“Proof assistants in discrete mathematics education”). His service to the field includes serving as Founder and Managing Editor for The Annals of Formalized Mathematics; he regularly organizes and teaches at workshops and summer schools that promote proof assistants in mathematics.
For more information, click the link that follows to contact Brown CS Communications Manager Jesse C. Polhemus.
