Thomas William Lee

Thomas W. Lee, the Hughes M. Blake Professor of Management at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, passed away Friday, June 18, 2021 at the age of 68. He is survived by his wife, Janet Thompson, and their son, Joseph Lee. He was a loving husband and devoted father who always said that their son was their best joint project.

Tom was born in Mountain View, California on December 24, 1952. He was the youngest of three children born to Faye and Kong Lee. In addition to his wife and son, he is survived by his sister Judy Persoff and brother Gene Lee. He graduated from Mountain View High School in California, and received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Berkeley. He spent his junior year abroad in Norway. A Master's degree in Industrial Psychology soon followed from Bowling Green State College, in Ohio.

He returned to California for his first job with Southern California Edison Company, in southern California. After several years, he returned for a Ph.D. in Management from the Lundquist College of Business, University of Oregon. Upon completion of his Ph.D., he was hired as a professor by the University of Washington Foster School of Business.

His professional colleagues considered Tom to be a masterful teacher, impactful scholar, generous mentor and steadfast leader. The most unassuming of towering figures, Lee was—humbly, expertly, affably—a scholar and leader of enormous impact at Foster and within the larger discipline of management. In nearly 40 years at the Foster School of Business, he was the author of 95 peer-reviewed papers and co-creator of landmark theories on why employees choose to leave or remain in their jobs. He also taught every level of student, and mentored scores of Ph.D. students to their own successful careers.

Never one to balk at the call to lead, Tom served for 12 years as associate dean for academic and faculty affairs at Foster. He was editor of the Academy of Management Journal, president of the Academy of Management, and a fellow of the Academy of Management and the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology. Foremost among his many accolades were the 2015 Herbert Heneman, Jr. Award for Career Achievement from the Human Relations Division of the Academy of Management, and the Academy’s overall Career Achievement Award for Distinguished Service in 2016.

Tom was cited in a 2013 paper as the exemplar of the “academic decathlete” who excels at research, teaching, service, mentoring and leadership over the course of a career—and sometimes concurrently. You could trust him, a colleague said. He was reasonable, approachable, considerate and he listened. He did his share and more, always going the extra mile for family, friends and colleagues. Colleagues from other Universities here in the USA and abroad frequently invited him to talk about research and publishing. Tom was most often accompanied by his wife and sometimes his son. He thoroughly enjoyed the travel and engaging with other cultures. His leisure time also included reading, following Mariners baseball and college football and action movies. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and colleagues. In Lieu of flowers please consider donating to the Tom Lee and Janet Thompson fund for Study Abroad; Foster School of Business; c/o UW Foundation; Box 359505; Seattle, WA 98195.

A Celebration of Life is planned for the September 18th 11:30am to 2:00pm. Please contact Acacia Memorial Park and Funeral Home for details https://www.dignitymemorial.com/funeral-homes/seattle-wa/acacia-memorial-park-funeral-home/7552 or Janet at [email protected]