William Lee
Founding Board Member
Billy Lee is a retired architect who worked early in his career with I.M. Pei. A graduate of Andover, he received both a BA and MA in architecture from Yale. Through an invitation by C.B. Sung in the 1970s, Billy joined an American delegation of architects lecturing at Tsinghua University. Inspired, he ultimately established a scholarship for young Chinese architects. In frequent demand as a speaker, he ended up lecturing regularly on architecture at China’s top universities during the 80s and 90s.
Billy’s personal mission at The 1990 Institute was to always build relationships. He is best known for numerous youth exchange programs through his Children, Art and the Environment Program, where he impacted over a million children. His
proudest moment was the launching of the World’s Children’s Mural Painting Park at the China National Children’s Center in 2008. An annual event, this program has “proven to be an effective way to build xin xin qiao (Heart to Heart Bridges) among children from different countries, backgrounds, and cultures.”