Dr. Elwyn C. Lee HOUSTON- Dr. Elwyn C. Lee grew up in Houston and attended public schools through 10th grade. After two years in Phillips Academy in Massachusetts, he entered Yale College, where he graduated magna cum laude. He later graduated from Yale Law School, and practiced law in Washington, D.C., before becoming a professor in 1978 at the University of Houston Law Center, where he taught employment law, personal injury law, administrative law, and ethics.

He also served as chair of several state and local Bar committees. He became the first African-American professor to receive tenure at the UH Law Center in 1984. In 1989, he became the interim director for the UH African-American Studies Program.

He was named interim vice president for student affairs in 1991, and assumed the role permanently. As vice president, he has full program, budget and operating responsibility for the Division of Student Affairs. In 1995, Enrollment Services was transferred under his leadership, where it has increased steadily.

In 1997, Lee spearheaded a successful effort to get approval for a $40 million Campus Recreation and Wellness Center. In September 1998, he assumed a dual appointment of University of Houston System vice chancellor for student affairs and University of Houston vice president for student affairs. He leads the UH System Student Affairs Council; serves as chief student affairs officer for the UH System; and is a member of the chancellor’s System Executive Group.

He has served on the Riverside General Hospital Board, the Houston Lawyers Association, the Contemporary Arts Museum Board; and the Third Ward Redevelopment Council Board. He is married to Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee and they have two children, Erica and Jason.

We salute Dr. Elwyn C. Lee as this week’s Living Legend and invite you to send in who you think will make a good Living Legend and why they should be honored.