Richard Lewis
Richard D Lewis has been
active in the fields of applied and anthropological linguistics for over
35 years and he is widely considered to be one of the world's most
renowned inter-culturalists and linguists. He speaks 10 European and 2
Asiatic languages and is currently chairman of Richard Lewis
Communications PLC, an international institute of language and
cross-cultural training with offices in over a dozen countries.
His work in several fields of communicative studies has involved him in
the organisation of courses and seminars for many of the world's leading
industrial and financial companies. He also spent 5 years in Japan where
he was tutor to Empress Michiko and other members of the Japanese
Imperial Family. More recently he has been heavily involved in the
intercultural field, founding companies in France, Germany, Spain, Italy
and Brazil, teaching communication skills in these countries as well as
Finland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the USA.
Richard Lewis founded the quarterly magazine "Cross Culture" in 1989.
His best-selling book "When Cultures Collide" is regarded as the classic
work on intercultural issues and his latest publication, “The Cultural
Imperative” (2003) forecasts global trends in the 21st century. Richard
Lewis was chosen as the Personality of the Year 1999 by PATA (the
Pacific Asia Travel Association) and was given the award on the basis of
"the dedicated and extraordinary work carried out in the area of
cross-cultural communication, having clear understanding and sensitivity
for the cultures in the Asia/Pacific." Mr Lewis was knighted by
President Ahtisaari of Finland in March 1997 in recognition of his
services in the cross-cultural field relating to the training of Finnish
Ministries for EU entry (1995) and the EU Presidency (1999).