Theresa M. Lee is the Herbert Family Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and professor of psychology, appointed in January 2012. She came to UT from the University of Michigan where from 2007-2011 she chaired the Department of Psychology which included seven sub-areas, over seventy full-time equivalent tenure-line faculty, and seated more than 8,000 students per year.

Lee currently leads 22 departments, nine interdisciplinary programs, and eight college-based research centers. Since arriving at UT, she has led her units in the development of strategic plans (with key metrics identified through a gap analysis at the college and department levels); developed new internal and external communication strategies and tools; reorganized the Dean’s Advisory Board to encourage more effective advocacy and philanthropy; collaborated with campus planning on restoring and building new infrastructure for education and research; and led the development team in setting and meeting campaign goals. She also leads the college in collaborative efforts with campus initiatives, particularly those related to diversity, alumni affairs, and recruitment of undergraduate and graduate students. She works closely with the UT Office of Research, Innovation, and Economic Development (ORIED) in efforts to sustain and enhance relationships with the Oak Ridge National Laboratory as well as foundations and industry, and supports the many faculty outreach efforts locally and around the world.

In addition to extensive university committee service, Lee also has served on various committees for national organizations, including the Society of Neuroscience and the American Psychological Association and the board of the Council of Graduate Departments of Psychology. She has served the National Institutes of Health as a regular panel member and the National Science Foundation as a regular reviewer, and on planning committees for smaller specialty societies related to her research interests. For example, she served on the Women in Neuroscience Committee and was a co-project investigator on an ADVANCE grant designed to increase the number of women faculty in leadership positions in neuroscience units.

Lee is active in the Council for Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS), having attended special seminars and annual meetings since 2012. In 2014, she participated in the CCAS panel, “The Focus on Accountability in Higher Education: The Impact at Research Universities.” She served as chair of the research group from 2015-18 and director of the New Dean Seminar in 2016 and 2017. Lee stepped onto the CCAS leadership ladder in 2016 as an elected member of the board and served as treasurer and chair of the Education Committee from 2016-2018. She served as president-elect and annual meeting program chair from 2018-2019; president from 2019-2022, and past-president the following year. Lee is a fellow of the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Her research in behavioral and developmental neuroscience focuses on environmental interactions with behavior and physiology, as well as the interaction of early steroid hormones on social interactions and the development of adult behavior.