Jong Pil Lee - Distinguished Service Professor

Contact Information

Building: Academic Village/Campus Center
Room: A313/H327
Hours: M/W 9:30-12:00 (CC H327) T/R 9:30-1:00 (AV A313)
Phone: 516-876-3261
E-Mail: leej@oldwestbury.edu
WebSite:http://triton.oldwestbury.edu/~mathcompsci/facultypages/leej.html

Courses

Profile

  • Professor Jong Pil Lee is an innovator and leader in mathematics education. An outstanding teaching professor at the State University of New York College at Old Westbury, he has mentored thousands of students and teachers in mathematics. He joined the faculty of the State University of New York in 1973, and has been awarded the title of Distinguished Service Professor by the State University Board of Trustees. In 1989 the Long Island Mathematics Conference Board presented him with the LIMAÇON Award for his contribution to mathematics education. He also received the State of New York and United University Professions Excellence Award, and the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Research and Scholarship. In 2005, he was one of ten professors nationwide and one of only two mathematics professors to be honored at the White House with the U.S. Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics and Engineering Mentoring, an award jointly administered by the White House and the National Science Foundation, recognizing his efforts to enhance and promote mathematics education among all people, including many from underrepresented population groups. The Presidential Awardees are regarded as exemplars and leaders in national efforts to develop the nation’s human resources in science, mathematics and engineering. Dr. Lee has devoted his career to educational issues concerning public education on Long Island , New York City, the State University , and the nation at large. For these efforts, in 2006 he became an inaugural inductee of the Long Island Mathematics Educators Hall of Fame, a collaborative initiative by the Nassau County Association of Mathematics Supervisors, the Nassau County Mathematics Teachers Association and the Suffolk County Mathematics Teachers Association to recognize individuals who have made extraordinary contributions to mathematics education. He has a long history of dedicated service and pioneering ground-breaking programs: In 1986, Dr. Lee founded and became project director of the Institute of Leadership Development for Teaching Mathematics and Technology, which provides in-service training and has trained hundreds of teachers from the Metropolitan New York area. He also founded Old Westbury's Institute of Advanced Placement Mathematics for High School Teachers. In 1987, he initiated the Annual Long Island Mathematics Conference, held at the SUNY College at Old Westbury. Each year more than 500 mathematics educators from the metropolitan New York area participate in this forum for innovative ideas and common goals – improving the effectiveness and vision in mathematics education nationwide.In keeping with his objective of helping the United States maintain and improve its leadership position in a technological world, in 1992 he founded the Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students to develop their creativity at their full potential. Through this program, 75 diversified students in grades 5 to 10 are chosen annually from a pool of approximately 1,000 students nominated by area schools. These high-achievers take part in 20 intensive sessions free of tuition to stimulate their mathematical minds and build their wealth of knowledge. Over 100 alumni of the Institute received national and international academic awards such as Intel and Siemens Awards. One of the projects in which Dr. Lee takes greatest pride was when he instituted the Long Island Mathematics Scholarship Foundation for Minority High School Seniors in 1991. In the past, he also founded the Institute of Mathematics Enrichment for High-Ability and High-Potential Women, supported by the National Science Foundation. He has designed more than a dozen programs enhancing mathematics education, with support of various grants from the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Education, Private Foundations, Corporations, and the State University of New York. Dr. Lee has published extensively in the area of topology, has made numerous presentations at professional conferences, and given many invited talks. He is widely recognized as an expert in the field of mathematics education. His own educational background includes a B. S. from Chonbuk National University in Korea, an M.A. from Bowling Green State University in Ohio, and a Ph.D. from the University of Alberta in Canada where he was inducted into the very small community of Distinguished Alumni with a permanent display panel of his portrait and description of his accomplishments for the Alumni Wall of Recognition in the Student Union.

Publications and Activities

  • Initiated the annual Long Island Mathematics Conference at Old Westbury
  • Founder and Project Director of the Institute of Leadership Development for Teaching Mathematics and Technology
  • Founded the Institute of Creative Problem Solving for Gifted and Talented Students