Esther S. Lee (formerly Esther S. Lee Yao), born in 1944 in China, graduated from the National Normal University in Taiwan. She received MA from Illinois Northern University and Ph.D. from Purdue University at age of 26. Dr. Lee taught at the University of Houston Clear Lake, Souther Arkansas University, and DePauw University for a total of 21 years. In July 2000, she was appointed as dean of the Graduate School of Troy State University Montgomery, Alabama.
Dr. Lee has a strong commitment to serve the community by enhancing both the academic programs at TSUM and providing the life long learning opportunities to non-degree seekers.
Dr. Lee is very active in politics and her profession. She was Deputy Director of the U.S. Department of Education, President of American China Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. Dr. Lee was named Outstanding Young Woman of America in 1978, received the U.S. Presidential Achievement Award in 1982 and Fulbright Scholarship Award to India in 1987. She is currently serving on the Board of Examiner of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).
Dr. Lee is a prolific and dynamic bilingual columnist and speaker. She has published six books, including Chinese Women, Past & Present (Esther S. Lee Yao, 1983), and over 50 published professional articles. Her recent weekly column on Interactive Parenting appears in the World Journal, a Chinese, newspaper with worldwide circulation. She has received several research grants funded by federal agencies and private foundations. Dr. Lee has been a speaker at a
countless number of civic, religious and professional seminars and conferences both in the United States and in foreign countries, including a lecture trip to South Africa in 1989.
In the community at large, she has been appointed at various times to more than 30 commissions, councils, and committees by the U.S. Congress, Presidents, and governors, including the presidential Fulbright Scholarship Board and Congressional Commission for the Study of International Migration and Cooperative Economic Development.
Dr. Lee has two grown daughters. With her musical background (a concert pianist in her earlier years), Dr. Lee still enjoys playing the piano occasionally. Her worldwide travels have enriched her personal as well as professional life.