Lee was born in Prince George’s County, and grew up in College Park, where he resides today. From K-12, he attended the local Prince George’s County public schools, College Park Elementary School, Hyattsville Junior high School, and graduated form Northwestern High School in 1961. After graduation, he attended the University of Connecticut (BS degree in Mechanical Engineering, 1965) and then obtained a one-year degree in foreign trade at the International School of Foreign Trade in Glendale, Arizona.
Peace Corps – Panama (1966-68)
From 1966-68, Lee served in the Peace Corps in Panama, as an assistant professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Panama. In the Spanish language, he taught students various classes in math and engineering, alongside his Panamanian counterpart professor, Roberto Smith. During this time, he lived in a nearby low income community, where he interacted daily with the local residents.
Government Employment and Legal Training
On return to the US, Lee was employed as a patent examiner with the US Patent Office, where he attended night classes at the Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), to obtain his J.D. degree in law (1973). Soon thereafter, he became a member of the Maryland bar.
Training Teachers for a New Education
Beginning as a teacher of young children, Lee soon developed an in-home tutoring program, and in 1979, founded an organization, International Montessori Society (IMS) to support his novel ideas for a “new education” in harmony with laws of nature. As IMS executive director, Lee conducted over 150 training workshops for teachers throughout the world. He also published writings and developed learning resources in the field of Montessori teaching as well as contributing to a number of well-known texts in the field.
Public Interest Politics and Civic Action
From his work in education, Lee was soon led to pursue civic and political action to bring about greater freedom for competition and choice in the field. For example, in the 1980’s, he created the “Maryland Public Assembly” to identify and suport freedom-oriented candidates for public office in Maryland. He also organized a national group, Patriot Vetting Committee in 2009 to help unify “teaparty” patriot groups to support the evaluation and election of candidates for public office. Later, he organize Free State Patriots for this purpose in Maryland. In 2016, he organized the Citizens for a Better Prince George’s County to address such local issues as abusive taxing policies, election integrity, open government, and public safety in his home county of Prince George’s.
Republican Party Activity
In 2013, Lee was appointed and then later elected to represent Legislative District 21 on the Prince George’s Republican Party central committee. In this capacity, he developed a grassroots precinct organization and was eventually elected 2nd vice chair of the committee. In 2014, Lee was elected president of the Northern Prince George’s County Republican Club. Later, he organized Maryland Grassroots Republicans to provide statewide support for principles and candidates of the Republican Party.
Outreach to Hispanic Community
Lee has often appeared on local Hispanic news talk radio shows, such as DC Contigo and Asiesmigente.com to express his views of issues of interest to the Hispanic community. For example, in panel discussion shows, he presented his position on such issues as tax legislation and enforcement of immigration laws. He has also shared his ideas for a “new education” to overcome poverty in Latin America through a unique “character teaching” project he developed for this purpose.
Campaign for Maryland State Senate
In the 2018 elections, Lee was the Republican nominee candidate for Maryland State Senate to represent people in his legislative district 21, which includes northern Prince George’s County and parts of Anne Arundel County. Although he failed to win that election against a well-established incumbent opponent, he did raise over $26,000 and over 9,000 votes in that campaign effort. Besides that, he brought important public attention to the need for lower taxes and free market solutions to benefit the life and well-being of all citizens in his district.
Lee’s Education Background
1961-65 University of Connecticut (Storrs, CT), BS Engineering
1965-66 American Institute for Foreign Trade (Glendale, AZ) BFT Foreign Trade
1971-73 Catholic University of America (Washington, DC), JD Law
1973-74 University of Maryland (College Park, MD), M.Ed., Early Childhood Education
1975-76 AERCO (Philadelphia, PA); Certificate Montessori Teacher Education (3-6)