Valerie Lee

Dr. Valerie B. Lee (B.A. Atlantic Union College; M.A., Andrews University; Ph.D. The Ohio State University) began her career at Denison University, a private liberal arts institution.  Fifteen years later, she joined the faculty at The Ohio State University, retiring in June 2015 as Ohio State’s Vice Provost for Diversity and Inclusion and Chief Diversity Officer, as well as Vice President for Outreach and Engagement.  In June 2016, Ohio State asked her to return to chair what would be her third Ohio State academic department.  Having already chaired the Department of Women’s Studies for one term and the Department of English for two terms, she served as interim chair for the Department of African American and African Studies before retiring again in June 2018. Dr. Lee is now an elected member of The Ohio State University Emeritus Academy. 

 In addition to the aforementioned departments, Dr. Lee held courtesy appointments in the Department of Comparative Studies, the Institute for Folklore Studies, and the Center for Interdisciplinary Law and Public Policy.  She is the recipient of two of Ohio State’s highest awards: The Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching and the Faculty Award for Distinguished University Service.  She is also a past president of the Association of Departments of English (ADE).

The author of three books and scores of journal articles in the areas of literature and medicine, African American Women’s Literature, multicultural pedagogies, academic administration, and folklore, Dr. Lee has taught a wide range of undergraduate and graduate courses in such areas as Law and Narrative, Women’s Literature, African American Literature, and 19th and 20th century American Literature.  Along with E. Patrick Johnson of Northwestern University, she co-edits the book series, Black Performance and Cultural Criticism (The Ohio State University Press). Recently, she ended thirty-two years as Executive Director of Womanist Readers, a Columbus, Ohio community reading group.  She is married to James C. Lee, Esq. and they are the parents of four adult children, all of whom attended Adventist colleges.