Lee Seng Tee

Born in Singapore in 1923, Lee was the second sonLee Su Shyan [http://www.asiaone.com/News/The%2BStraits%2BTimes/Story/A1Story20080211-48963.html "Two old S'pore families compete for Straits Trading"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605134946/http://www.asiaone.com/News/The+Straits+Times/Story/A1Story20080211-48963.html |date=5 June 2011 }}, The Straits Times, Singapore, 11 February 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2010. of Lee Kong Chian and a maternal grandson of Tan Kah Kee. Lee graduated from The Wharton School with a bachelor's degree in economics in 1950.[http://www.sas.upenn.edu/home/news/SAS_Win07.pdf "Seng Tee Lee, W'50"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706012130/http://www.sas.upenn.edu/home/news/SAS_Win07.pdf |date=6 July 2010 }} University of Pennsylvania. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

Lee was a director of the family's Lee Group of Companies, a Singapore-based conglomerate of firms in industries that include pineapple and investments; Lee was among the 40 richest people in Singapore[https://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/79/biz_singaporerichest08_Lee-Seng-Tee_ILA7.html "Singapore's 40 Richest: #32 Lee Seng Tee"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180821/http://www.forbes.com/lists/2008/79/biz_singaporerichest08_Lee-Seng-Tee_ILA7.html |date=3 March 2016 }}, Forbes.com, 20 19 April 2010. primarily due to his stake in family businesses.

As a director of the Lee Foundation, Lee supported education, particularly higher education, around the world through personal donations towards building libraries and reading rooms, as well as supporting the acquisition of published resources for some of the most famous libraries in the world, which include the Needham Research Institute at the University of Cambridge and the Bodleian Library[http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/librarian/rpc/founders1999/founders1999.htm "Radcliffe Camera"] Bodleian Library, Oxford, 13 March 1999. Retrieved 19 April 2010. at the University of Oxford.

Lee was named an honorary fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals for his philanthropic support of libraries worldwide.[http://www.cilip.org.uk/groups/ylg/ylr/ehealth.html "Honorary Fellowship to Dr Lee Seng Tee for his philanthropic support of libraries in the UK and worldwide.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110616065119/http://www.cilip.org.uk/groups/ylg/ylr/ehealth.html |date=16 June 2011 }} News from CILIP, 23 October 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

In China, Lee's support for the Chinese Chess Association included the Lee Seng Tee Library[http://www.chessinvasion.com/chinese-chess-association.html "The Chinese Chess Association– Chess in China"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330231220/http://www.chessinvasion.com/chinese-chess-association.html |date=30 March 2010 }} Delivering Online Chess to the World 2007. Retrieved on 20 April 2010. at the Chess Academy in Beijing, the ST Lee Beijing International Open, and the Lee Seng Tee Cup (李成智杯).[http://sports.cn.yahoo.com/070214/346/29at5.html "资料：李成智杯全国少年儿童国际象棋冠军赛"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304035849/http://sports.cn.yahoo.com/070214/346/29at5.html |date=4 March 2012 }} Yahoo Sports: Lee Seng Tee Cup, 14 February 2007. Retrieved on 19 April 2010. Other projects include the Lee Seng Tee Public Library (李成智公众图书馆)[http://www.chnlib.com/GGTSG/1565.html "福建省李成智公众图书馆"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708145551/http://www.chnlib.com/GGTSG/1565.html |date=8 July 2011 }} 中国图书馆网, 29 November 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2010. in Nan'an City, Fujian, where his father was born.

File:Wolfson College, Cambridge (2).jpg

Lee also funded projects and lecture series at universities, including Cambridge[http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/lee-lecture/ "The Lee Seng Tee Distinguished Lecture Series"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413205918/http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/lee-lecture/ |date=13 April 2010 }} Wolfson College, Cambridge. Retrieved 19 April 2010. and Oxford[http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/userfiles/file/Summary/LL-20100128.pdf "The Lee Lecture in Political Science and Government"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110609073552/http://www.all-souls.ox.ac.uk/userfiles/file/Summary/LL-20100128.pdf |date=9 June 2011 }} All Souls College, Oxford, 28 January 2010. Retrieved 19 April 2010 in the United Kingdom, Columbia University, Harvard University, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Stanford University[http://fsi.stanford.edu/events/series/st_lee_lectureship/ "S.T. Lee Lectureship – FSI Stanford"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618013351/http://fsi.stanford.edu/events/series/st_lee_lectureship/ |date=18 June 2009 }} Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University. Retrieved 19 April 2010. and the Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton, in the United States, the University of Sydney[http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/law/457.html?eventid=4272 "The S.T. Lee Lecture"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110615051608/http://www.usyd.edu.au/news/law/457.html?eventid=4272 |date=15 June 2011 }} Sydney Law School, The University of Sydney, 16 July 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2010. in Australia, the Victoria University of Wellington[http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/Endowments_Donations/lee-lecture/index.aspx "The S.T. Lee Lecture in Antarctic Studies"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014233200/http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/Endowments_Donations/lee-lecture/index.aspx |date=14 October 2008 }} Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 19 April 2010.[http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/news/Lee-Library-opening.aspx "Official Opening of the S.T. Lee Library – 16 June 2005"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014233104/http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/news/Lee-Library-opening.aspx |date=14 October 2008 }} Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 19 April 2010.[http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/Endowments_Donations/travel-award.aspx "S.T. Lee Young Researcher Travel Award"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081014235014/http://www.victoria.ac.nz/antarctic/about/Endowments_Donations/travel-award.aspx |date=14 October 2008 }} Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington. Retrieved 19 April 2010. in New Zealand, the University of the Witwatersrand[http://www.witsfoundation.co.za/images/AnnRep07.pdf "Foundation Annual Report 2007"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091211022142/http://www.witsfoundation.co.za/images/AnnRep07.pdf |date=11 December 2009 }} The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. Retrieved 19 April 2010. in South Africa, and the National University of Singapore (NUS).[http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/Photo_Gallery_27oct09.aspx "S.T. Lee Distinguished Annual Lecture: Universities for a Global Society"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822172457/http://www.spp.nus.edu.sg/Photo_Gallery_27oct09.aspx |date=22 August 2010 }} Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore, 27 October 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2010.[http://www.nus.edu.sg/soua/2008/sou2008.pdf "S T Lee Project on Global Governance at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111127234627/http://www.nus.edu.sg/soua/2008/sou2008.pdf |date=27 November 2011 }} National University of Singapore, Academic Year 2007–2008. Retrieved on 20 April 2010. The S.T. Lee Lectures provide a platform for scholars and policy-makers to address critical international issues.

Lee died on 29 July 2022, at the age of 99.{{cite web |title=Dr Lee Seng Tee |url=https://obits.sg/d/dr-lee-seng-tee/13657 |website=Obits SG |access-date=3 August 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231007172907/https://obits.sg/d/dr-lee-seng-tee/13657 |url-status=live }}

Lee was an Honorary Fellow of the British Academy in 1998{{Cite web|title=[British Academy] Review, July–December 1999|url=https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/review/british-academy-review-july-december-1999/|access-date=2 July 2021|website=The British Academy|language=en|archive-date=9 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709182259/https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/publishing/review/british-academy-review-july-december-1999/|url-status=live}} and Foreign Honorary Member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2001,[http://www.amacad.org/members/class_section.pdf "List of Active Members by Classes"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050506154511/http://www.amacad.org/members/class_section.pdf |date=6 May 2005 }} American Academy, 16 October 2006. Retrieved 19 April 2010. as well as an Honorary Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge,[http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/fellows/honorary/ "Wolfson College, Cambridge: Honorary Fellows"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100413233504/http://www.wolfson.cam.ac.uk/fellows/honorary/ |date=13 April 2010 }} Wolfson College, Cambridge. Retrieved 19 April 2010. and Oriel College, Oxford.[http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/412 "Oriel College, Oxford: Honorary Fellows" Oriel College, Oxford. Retrieved April 19, 2010.] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110526162228/http://www.oriel.ox.ac.uk/content/412 |date=26 May 2011 }} Lee was also a Member of the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors.[http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/daily/archive.cgi?1024873200 "Professor Sir Alec Broers hosted a reception at the Old Schools for Dr and Mrs Seng Tee Lee following Dr Lee's admission as a Companion of the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606051131/http://www.admin.cam.ac.uk/news/daily/archive.cgi?1024873200 |date=6 June 2011 }} Retrieved 22 April 2010.[http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/campaign/guide/recognition/ "Cambridge University Alumni Office: Donor Recognition"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100130233611/http://www.alumni.cam.ac.uk/campaign/guide/recognition/ |date=30 January 2010 }} Retrieved 22 April 2010.

Lee has also received honorary degrees from the Asian Institute of Technology in 1998[http://www.ait.ac.th/news-and-events/archive/1998/News.2007-09-12.215913 "AIT Honorary Degree To Be Conferred On Lee Seng Tee"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513155652/http://www.ait.ac.th/news-and-events/archive/1998/News.2007-09-12.215913/ |date=13 May 2008 }} Asian Institute of Technology. Retrieved on 19 April 2010. in Thailand, Victoria University in 2006[http://www.vuw.ac.nz/annualreports/2006/review/vicechancellorreport-pg2.html "Philanthropist Lee Seng Tee received an honorary Doctor of Literature degree"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120304151913/http://www.vuw.ac.nz/annualreports/2006/review/vicechancellorreport-pg2.html |date=4 March 2012 }} Vice-Chancellor's Report, Victoria University. Last Updated: 11 May 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2010. and Washington University in St. Louis in 2008.[http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/11664.aspx "Washington University to award six honorary degrees at 147th Commencement"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905192151/http://news.wustl.edu/news/Pages/11664.aspx |date=5 September 2012 }} Washington University in St. Louis, 1 May 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

In October 2009, he was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters by Chancellor of the National University of Singapore S. R. Nathan.[http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/headlines/1009/lee_02Oct09.php "Dr Lee Seng Tee receives NUS Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100714062234/http://newshub.nus.edu.sg/headlines/1009/lee_02Oct09.php |date=14 July 2010 }} National University of Singapore, 2 October 2009. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

Lee had a variety of bamboo, the Drepanostachyum falcatum var. sengteeanum, named after him.Stapleton, C.M.A. (2006) [http://bamboo-identification.co.uk/sengteeanum.pdf "Drepanostachyum falcatum var. sengteeanum: Identity and origins (Poaceae: Bambusoideae). Sida 22 (2): 1081–1086."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726083428/http://bamboo-identification.co.uk/sengteeanum.pdf |date=26 July 2011 }} Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

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Category:1923 births

Category:2022 deaths

Category:Honorary Fellows of the British Academy

Category:Singaporean businesspeople

Category:Singaporean people of Hokkien descent

Category:Singaporean philanthropists