Umphrey Lee was the President of Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University

Southern Methodist University is a private university in Dallas, Texas, United States. Founded in 1911 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, SMU operates campuses in Dallas, Plano, and Taos, New Mexico. SMU is owned by the South Central Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church...

 from 1939 to 1954.

Biography

Umphrey Lee was born in Oakland City, Indiana

Oakland City, Indiana

Oakland City is the second-largest city but third-largest community in Gibson County, Indiana, United States, after the city of Princeton and the town of Fort Branch. It is the home of Oakland City University...

 on March 23, 1893. He attended Daniel Baker College

Daniel Baker College

Daniel Baker College was founded April 5, 1889 in Brownwood, Texas and was named in memory of the Rev. Dr. Daniel Baker, a Presbyterian circuit-riding minister, who helped organize the first presbytery in Texas in 1840 and Austin College in 1849....

 from 1910 to 1912, received a B.A from Trinity University

Trinity University (Texas)

Trinity University is a private, independent, primarily undergraduate, university in San Antonio, Texas. Its campus is located in the Monte Vista Historic District and adjacent to Brackenridge Park....

 in 1914, an M.A.

Master of Arts (postgraduate)

A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...

 from Southern Methodist University in 1916, and a PhD

PHD

PHD may refer to:*Ph.D., a doctorate of philosophy*Ph.D. , a 1980s British group*PHD finger, a protein sequence*PHD Mountain Software, an outdoor clothing and equipment company*PhD Docbook renderer, an XML renderer...

 from Columbia University

Columbia University

Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...

 in 1931. He worked as a Methodist pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

. In 1919, he established the Wesley Bible Chair at the University of Texas. In 1923, he became the pastor of Highland Park Methodist Church, on the Southern Methodist University campus, and taught homiletics

Homiletics

Homiletics , in theology the application of the general principles of rhetoric to the specific department of public preaching. The one who practices or studies homiletics is called a homilist....

. From 1937 to 1939, he became Dean of the School of Religion at Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University

Vanderbilt University is a private research university located in Nashville, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1873, the university is named for shipping and rail magnate "Commodore" Cornelius Vanderbilt, who provided Vanderbilt its initial $1 million endowment despite having never been to the...

 in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

. He served as President of Southern Methodist University from 1939 to 1954. He was the first Chancellor of SMU from 1954 to 1958.

He was a member of the Medieval Academy of America

Medieval Academy of America

The Medieval Academy of America is the largest organization in the United States promoting excellence in the field of medieval studies. It was founded in 1925 and is based in Cambridge, Massachusetts...

, the American Historical Society, the American Society of Church History

American Society of Church History

The American Society of Church History was founded in 1888 with the disciplines of Christian denominational and ecclesiastical history as its focus. Today the society's interests include the broad range of the critical scholarly perspectives, as applied to the history of Christianity and its...

, and the Philosophical Society of Texas.