Current Position and Past Experience
Robert Lee is currently Dean of the Sanford College of Education and Regional Vice President for Los Angeles at National University. Previously, he served four years as Dean of the College of Education at University of Central Missouri, and as Founder and Executive Director of the National Center for Urban Education, the first nationally based center with cross-institutional partnerships focused on finding solutions to systemic problems in urban education. Prior, he served for 13 years at Illinois State University in several leadership roles supporting teacher preparation, in addition to 12 years as Principal Investigator for U.S. Department of Education extramural funded grants.
Education, Honors and Achievements
Lee holds a Doctor of Education from DePaul University, a Master of Arts from Harvard University and a Bachelor of Arts from Pepperdine University.
ecipient of numerous prestigious awards, including the Public Media Awards in Education for COVID-19 Education and KMOS Classroom Summer School (presented by the National Educational Telecommunications Association and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting), a Bronze Award from The Educational Forum for the special issue “Strength and Hope in Urban Education: The Bridge between Community and Classroom,” and the Critics’ Choice Award from the American Educational Studies Association for the edited volume Moving Teacher Education into Urban Schools and Communities: Prioritizing Community Strengths. Additional honors include the Civic Learning and Democratic Engagement Lead Initiative Award from NASPA’s Leadership Institute, the Excellence in the Education of Emerging Education Leaders Award from the Association of Teacher Educators Council of Past Presidents, and the Best Practice Award in Support of Global Diversity & Inclusion from the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
Personal Details and Community Involvement
Robert is an avid organic gardener focused on nurturing heirloom vegetables and cultivates drought-tolerant native plants for his garden. He is also a self-described foodie and loves to cook, pairing wines he’s collected through his travels to the food he prepares.
