EdD, 2017 Ed Lee III is the senior director of College of Arts and Sciences at Emory University. In this role, Lee works directly with academic unit chairs to develop and facilitate department/program level programming across the College of Arts & Sciences. Additionally, Lee is the senior director emeritus of the Alben W. Barkley Forum for Debate, Deliberation, and Dialogue, which houses Emory's nationally acclaimed debate team and its cutting-edge dialogue programs. As senior director, Lee was the 2015 Ross K. Smith National Coach of the Year and a three-time recipient of the James Unger Award given to the coach of the best debate team in the country. Prior to coming to Emory, Lee served as the director of debate at the University of Alabama and the director of UC Berkeley's Bay Area Urban Debate League, where he was awarded the President's Award of Excellence. Lee is a relentless advocate for public debate and dialogue. He is a national media commentator for U.S. Presidential Debates and the use of arguments in public discourse. He is routinely seen on national and local media outlets discussing presidential debate strategies and their impact on national politics. In addition to creating organizational structures and programs that facilitate deliberation and dialogue, Lee's higher education interests include advocacy training and developing student empowerment and intercultural personhood. Lee has a doctorate in Higher Education Management from the University of Georgia's Louise McBee Institute of Higher Education, a Master's degree in Communication Studies from the University of Alabama, and is currently studying the interconnections between religion, justice, and peace building at Emory University's Candler School of Theology.
