A native of Hendersonville, North Carolina, Linda S. Lee enrolled at UT in 1968, initially majoring in journalism. After an introductory course in child development, she changed majors and graduated with honors in 1972 with a bachelor’s degree in home economics. While at UT, Lee was active in the Clement Hall Residents’ Association, Usher Corps, Phi Mu Fraternity, and Student Government Association.
After graduation, Lee taught in two upstate South Carolina school districts in Comprehensive Child Development Centers. After leaving public school education, Lee directed training programs in South Carolina for parents and childcare providers through the Mobile Child Development Training Program of the South Carolina Appalachian Health Commission, and the Greenville County Library’s Project LITTLE KIDS, which received special recognition from the Southeastern Library Association and the then US Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. After earning her master’s in early childhood education from the University of South Carolina, she established an academic child development training program at Greenville Technical College. She then served as Dean of Allied Health Sciences at Greenville Technical College for three years before enrolling at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), where she earned her PhD in Education in 1991.
Her studies at UNC exposed Lee to a new career path for advanced degree educators: medical education. She joined the Duke University School of Medicine faculty as an Education Specialist in 1991 and retired from Duke in 2017 as Associate Professor Emerita of Medical Education. Since 2018, Duke’s Master of Biomedical Sciences program has awarded a graduating student each year with the Dr. Linda S. Lee Professionalism Award.
Lee has promoted student engagement with UT Libraries by providing incoming freshmen from the Research Triangle area of North Caroline with student memberships in the John C. Hodges Society and distributing materials about the libraries to students and their parents at freshman “send-off” parties sponsored by the Triangle UT Alumni Chapter. Lee served on the Advisory Board of the John C. Hodges Society for ten years and was chair from 2019 to 2021. Remotely, she transitioned the board to a virtual working group when on-campus activities were curtailed due to pandemic restrictions. In addition, Lee has provided ongoing gift support to the College of Education, Health, and Human Sciences and UT Libraries.
