Lee Family Gift to Strengthen USM Muskie School Outreach
October 29, 2004
The family of Shep Lee and Lee Auto Malls have made a $250,000 gift in honor of community and business leader Shep Lee to fund The Shepard Lee Community Hall, in the new home of USM's Edmund S. Muskie School of Public Service.
"With this generous gift, our new home now will have a facility that will allow us to inform and engage the public more effectively on issues of the day," said USM Muskie School Dean Karl R. Braithwaite. "That's a critically important role for the Muskie School."
"Shep Lee has been, and continues to be, a very special friend to the University of Southern Maine," said USM President Richard L. Pattenaude. "Given Shep's longstanding commitment to ensuring Maine's economic and social vitality, it's appropriate that this wonderful gift be used for a facility to enhance civic education."
"I'm proud and humbled to have the family name linked with a school that has done so much, and now has the potential to do so much more, to further Ed Muskie's legacy of enriching civic life," said Lee. "It's also gratifying to be part of a facility designed to help educate our future leaders, and provide a forum for the free and open exchange of ideas."
Lee, chairman of the board of Lee Auto Malls, has been involved in his family's auto business since graduating from Bowdoin in 1947. Long recognized as a leader in the industry, President Carter appointed him to a take a lead role in organizing the White House Conference on Small Business. Time magazine recognized him as one of eight outstanding auto dealers in the nation, and more recently he served on the New England Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Lee has received numerous honors for his community service, including the Humanitarian of the Year Award by The Spurwink School and The Spurwink Institute, and the Roger Baldwin Award for exceptional service to the American Civil Liberties Union. Last year, the Portland Regional Chamber named him recipient of the Robert R. Masterton Award for leadership in economic development.
He has served the University as a member of the USM Muskie School Board of Visitors, the USM School of Business Advisory Council, the USM Institute for Family-Owned Business Advisory Board, and the University of Maine School of Law's Board of Visitors.
Lee, a native of Lewiston, resides in Cape Elizabeth. He has four grown children, five grandchildren, and is married to Candice Thornton Lee.
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