Justin Lewandowski has returned to his alma mater to serve as Sodexo general manager for operations at Arkansas Tech University and deliver a new look and feel for food service on the Russellville campus.
“The biggest thing we want to focus on is our customer service,” said Lewandowski. “We want to bring smiles to the students, faculty and staff. We’re in food service and we’re going to strive to get it right every time, but there are going to be times we don’t. We want to be able to connect with our customers and get it right, even if it doesn’t happen the first time. We’re going to do everything we can to make it right for them.”
Plans call for Sodexo to offer students increased specialty dinners in Chambers Cafeteria and other events designed to enhance the dining experience at Arkansas Tech.
“Our quality of food is another big focus,” said Lewandowski. “We’ll do a lot more meal prep and cooking to order. When you’re serving 600-to-800 students, you don’t want to cook everything at once. We thrive on batch cooking so everything is as fresh as possible for every group of students.”
Sodexo became the food service provider at Arkansas Tech and Lewandowski took over management of campus food service operations on July 1.
It was not the first time Lewandowski chose Arkansas Tech. The first time came 15 years ago as he was preparing to graduate from West Fork High School in Washington County.
“One of the biggest factors was the scholarships,” said Lewandowski when asked why he selected Arkansas Tech for his college experience. “I know a lot of schools offer some, but Tech was able to pay a full ride for me, so that was obviously a really big factor. Location was big. I was one of the students who wanted to get away from home, so it was the perfect amount of getting away from home while still being able to go back on weekends and holidays. I had a lot of friends coming this way from my graduating class in high school, so everything meshed together and it seemed like the right thing to do.”
Lewandowski was a student at Arkansas Tech from 2011-15 and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in hospitality administration. He counts Dr. Dong Soo Lee, Dr. Seung Suk Lee and Susan West among his most influential faculty mentors during his time at ATU.
“I was in Greek life when I was a student here, so I made a lot of lifelong friends through that organization and had a lot of opportunities,” said Lewandowski. “With my major, I was able to go on several trips paid for by ATU. In the hospitality program, they taught me a lot of what I’m trying to apply here. I went to Las Vegas with them, and I got to go on the On Track trip with the campus life program. Getting to go to New York, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C., was pretty sweet when you are 20 or 21 years old and graduating.”
In addition to his campus involvement through fraternity and sorority life, Lewandowski also served as a freshman orientation leader and as a student ambassador who helped introduce incoming students and their families to ATU.
Lewandowski started working in management for Sodexo soon after his graduation from Arkansas Tech. It was a career path that took him from the University of Arkansas to Northwestern University to Arkansas State University.
Now that life has brought him back to Arkansas Tech, Lewandowski will help launch a new concept on campus during Sodexo’s first academic year at the university.
Located inside the new Ferguson Student Union, Tech Xpress will offer pizza, sub sandwiches and grab-and-go salads and wraps as well as fresh fruit bowls.
“I’ve noticed one of the things the campus is missing is a convenience store,” said Lewandowski. “We will have those items in Tech Xpress, and the hours are going to support it by being open from first thing in the morning until pretty late at night.”
Another initiative that will be developed and implemented during the 2026-27 academic year is participation by Arkansas Tech and Sodexo in the national Swipe Out Hunger program. Sodexo will establish a meal swipe bank that can be accessed by ATU students facing food insecurity.
Sodexo will also manage concession stand operations at Wonder Boys and Golden Suns athletics venues on Arkansas Tech game days.
Visit www.atu.edu/foodservice to learn more about Arkansas Tech’s on-campus dining and catering options.
