David Li Lee (born 1949) is a

Taiwanese-American Taiwanese Americans () are Americans who carry full or partial ancestry from Taiwan. This includes American-born citizens who descend from migrants from Taiwan. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, 49% of Taiwanese Americans lived in the state of Califo ...

business executive and venture capitalist, best known as a co-founder of Global Crossing Ltd.

Education

Lee is a graduate of

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

. He received a Ph.D. in theoretical physics from

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

in 1974, with Kip S. Thorne as his advisor, with a minor in economics. His thesis work was on alternative theories of gravity to Einstein's General Theory of Relativity; he is co-author of the Lightman-Lee and Lee- Lightman- Ni theories of gravity (see

Alternatives to General Relativity Founded in 1994, Alternatives, Action and Communication Network for International Development, is a non-governmental, international solidarity organization based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Alternatives works to promote justice and equality ...

Career

Lee, also a certified public accountant, started his business career at Arthur Andersen & Co. in Los Angeles in 1975. In 1981, he joined a company that was acquired by the satellite communications firm Comsat, where he held a variety of executive positions before joining TRW Information Systems Group in 1986. At TRW, he was group vice president of finance and acquisitions. Lee left TRW in late 1989 to join Pacific Capital Group, where he facilitated the firm's expansion into the telecommunications industry. He co-founded the transcontinental telecommunications firm

Global Crossing Global Crossing was a telecommunications company that provided computer networking services and operated a tier 1 carrier. It maintained a large backbone network and offered peering, virtual private networks, leased lines, audio and video con ...

in 1997 and served as its president and chief operating officer until early 2000, when he left to launch Clarity Partners with Barry Porter, Steve Rader and R. Rudolph Reinfrank. In 1999 Lee donated $10 million to Caltech to fund a virtual center in advanced networking, also making a similar donation to Chiao-Tung University, in Taiwan, to fund a sister program. He is chairman of the Board of Overseers of the

University of Southern California medical school The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California teaches and trains physicians, biomedical scientists and other healthcare professionals, conducts medical research, and treats patients. Founded in 1885, it is the second oldest ...

, a trustee of the

J. Paul Getty Trust The J. Paul Getty Trust is the world's wealthiest art institution, with an estimated endowment of US$7.7 billion in 2020. Based in Los Angeles, California, it operates the J. Paul Getty Museum, which has two locations—the Getty Center in the ...

, and chair of the Board of Trustees of the

California Institute of Technology The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

.https://www.caltech.edu/content/officers-corporation Last accessed 3/26/13.

References

External links

* Forbes.com
profile of David Lee
* Annette Moore

USC News (February 15, 2007) * California Institute of Technology, Lee Center for Advanced Networking

Living people American venture capitalists American people of Taiwanese descent 1950 births McGill University alumni California Institute of Technology alumni Members of Committee of 100 {{US-private-equity-bio-stub