Lee Seng Tee (; 16 April 1923 – 29 July 2022) was a Singaporean businessman and philanthropist.

Early life and education

Born in Singapore in 1923, Lee was the second son of

Lee Kong Chian Lee Kong Chian (; 18 October 1893 – 2 June 1967), also known by his alias Lee Geok Kun (), was a prominent Chinese businessman and philanthropist based in Malaya and Singapore between the 1930s and the 1960s. He was the founder of the Lee ...

and a maternal grandson of

Tan Kah Kee Tan Kah Kee (; 21 October 1874 – 12 August 1961) was a Chinese businessman, investor, and philanthropist active in Singapore and the Chinese cities of Hong Kong, Shanghai, Xiamen, and Guangzhou. A prominent figure in the overseas Chinese ...

. Lee graduated from

The Wharton School The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania ( ; also known as Wharton Business School, the Wharton School, Penn Wharton, and Wharton) is the business school of the University of Pennsylvania, a private Ivy League research university in P ...

with a bachelor's degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interactions of economic agents and how economies work. Microeconomics analyzes ...

in 1950.

Philanthropy

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 primarily due to his stake in family businesses. As a director of the

Lee Foundation Lee Foundation is Singapore's largest private charitable foundation. It was founded in 1952 by philanthropist and businessman Lee Kong Chian, and has since supported various educational causes, healthcare and medical endowments as well as disaster ...

, 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 The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

and the Bodleian Library at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. Lee was named an honorary fellow of the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals for his philanthropic support of libraries worldwide. In China, Lee's support for the

Chinese Chess Association The Chinese Chess Association (CCA) (中国国际象棋协会) is the governing body of chess in China, one of the federations of FIDE, and a member of the Asian Chess Federation (ACF). It is the principal authority over all chess events in Chi ...

included the Lee Seng Tee Library at the Chess Academy in Beijing, the ST Lee Beijing International Open, and the Lee Seng Tee Cup (李成智杯). Other projects include the Lee Seng Tee Public Library (李成智公众图书馆) in Nan'an City, Fujian, where his father was born. Lee also funded projects and lecture series at universities, including Cambridge and Oxford in the United Kingdom,

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

University of Alaska Fairbanks The University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF or Alaska) is a public land-grant research university in College, Alaska, a suburb of Fairbanks. It is the flagship campus of the University of Alaska system. UAF was established in 1917 and opened for c ...

, Stanford University and the

Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), located in Princeton, New Jersey, in the United States, is an independent center for theoretical research and intellectual inquiry. It has served as the academic home of internationally preeminent scholar ...

, in the United States, the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one of the country's ...

in Australia, the

Victoria University of Wellington Victoria University of Wellington ( mi, Te Herenga Waka) is a university in Wellington, New Zealand. It was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a constituent college of the University of New Zealand. The university is well kno ...

in New Zealand, the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), is a multi-campus South African public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg. It is more commonly known as Wits University or Wits ( or ). The university ...

in South Africa, and the National University of Singapore (NUS). The S.T. Lee Lectures provide a platform for scholars and policy-makers to address critical international issues.

Death

Lee died on 29 July 2022, at the age of 99.

Honours

Lee was an Honorary Fellow of the

British Academy The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences. It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...

in 1998 and Foreign Honorary Member of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, a ...

in 2001, as well as an Honorary Fellow of

Wolfson College, Cambridge Wolfson College () is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in Cambridge, England. The majority of students at the college are postgraduates. The college also admits "mature" undergraduates (aged 21 and above), with around ...

, and Oriel College, Oxford. Lee was also a Member of the Guild of Cambridge Benefactors. Lee has also received honorary degrees from the Asian Institute of Technology in 1998 in Thailand, Victoria University in 2006 and

Washington University in St. Louis Washington University in St. Louis (WashU or WUSTL) is a private research university with its main campus in St. Louis County, and Clayton, Missouri. Founded in 1853, the university is named after George Washington. Washington University is r ...

in 2008. In October 2009, he was conferred the honorary degree of

Doctor of Letters Doctor of Letters (D.Litt., Litt.D., Latin: ' or ') is a terminal degree in the humanities that, depending on the country, is a higher doctorate after the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) degree or equivalent to a higher doctorate, such as the Docto ...

by Chancellor of the National University of Singapore S. R. Nathan. Lee had a variety of bamboo, the ''Drepanostachyum falcatum var. sengteeanum'', named after him.Stapleton, C.M.A. (2006
"''Drepanostachyum falcatum var. sengteeanum: Identity and origins (Poaceae: Bambusoideae). Sida 22 (2): 1081–1086.''"
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Retrieved 19 April 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seng Tee, Lee 1923 births 2022 deaths Honorary Fellows of the British Academy Singaporean businesspeople Singaporean people of Hokkien descent Singaporean philanthropists