House Concurrent Resolution 80

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION COMMENDING DR. J. CHARLES LEE FOR HIS CONTRIBUTIONS TO MISSISSIPPI STATE UNIVERSITY AND THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM AND EXPRESSING APPRECIATION OF THE LEGISLATURE UPON HIS RETIREMENT.

WHEREAS, Mississippi State University will suffer a tremendous loss when Dr. J. Charles Lee, its current and seventeenth president, retires in the spring of 2006; and

WHEREAS, his tenure with Mississippi State University did not begin with his presidency in 2003, because Dr. Lee has previously served as Interim President; Vice President for Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine; Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Dean of the College of Forest Resources; and Associate Director of the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station for the university; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Lee's experience in higher education spans more than three decades and he has served in leadership positions at a number of universities such as North Carolina State University, University of Arkansas-Monticello and Texas A&M University; and

WHEREAS, he was Head of the Forestry Department at the University of Arkansas-Monticello and held a number of positions during his tenure with Texas A&M such as, Professor and Head of the Department of Forest Science in 1983; Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and the Associate Director of the Agricultural Experiment Station in 1989; and from 1990 to 1994, he served as Dean and Executive Associate Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences; Director of the Agriculture Experiment Station; and Interim Deputy Chancellor of the Texas A&M University System; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Lee gained his undergraduate degree in 1964 from North Carolina State University in forest management and returned to that university to complete his Ph.D. in forest genetics in 1972; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Lee has been supported in his enthusiasm and dedication to the university by his wife, Mrs. Pat Lee; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Lee has been a very energetic first lady of Mississippi State University and most recently led the "Bulldogs in Response" task force which coordinates the university's humanitarian response to Hurricane Katrina; and

WHEREAS, to commemorate the many contributions that this fine couple has made to higher education, Mississippi State University will create and present a book of personal letters from a wide network of friends and colleagues whose lives have been touched by Dr. and Mrs. Lee; and

WHEREAS, it is the policy of this Legislature to recognize the numerous contributions of those who educate the youth of our state:

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI, THE SENATE CONCURRING THEREIN, That we do commend Dr. J. Charles Lee for his many contributions to Mississippi's higher education system and express our congratulations upon his retirement.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be furnished to Dr. and Mrs. J. Charles Lee and to the members of the Capitol Press Corps.