Umphrey Lee | |
|---|---|
| 1st Chancellor of Southern Methodist University | |
| In office 1954–1958 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| 4th President of Southern Methodist University | |
| In office 1939–1954 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Claude Selecman |
| Succeeded by | Willis M. Tate |
| Personal details | |
| Born | March 23, 1893 Oakland City, Indiana |
| Died | June 24, 1958 (aged 65) Dallas, Texas |
| Education | Trinity University (BA) Southern Methodist University (MA) Columbia University (PhD) |
Umphrey Lee (March 23, 1893 – June 23, 1958) was a Methodist theologian and historian who served as the fourth president of Southern Methodist University from 1939 to 1954.[1][2] Lee, who had been SMU's first undergraduate student body president, succeeded religious hard-liner C. C. Selecman, and is remembered for fostering an intellectual environment conducive to free research and learning.[3] Along with Dean Merrimon Cuninggim, he was also the driving force behind the effort to begin desegregating SMU in 1952—years before other southern colleges and fellow Methodist universities, Duke University and Emory University.[4]
Lee, a leading scholar on John Wesley and Methodist theology, was a member of the Medieval Academy of America, the American Historical Society, the American Society of Church History, and the Philosophical Society of Texas.[1]