Dr. Jung Hee Lee
Associate Professor
Contact Information:
Office: Albertson Hall 103H
Phone: 785-628-4469
E-mail: jhlee3@fhsu.edu
Dr. Jung Hee Lee received his Masters in Social Work from the University of Kansas with a concentration in Social Work Administration and his PhD also from the University of Kansas. Prof. Lee's area of interests centers on spirituality, resilience, and strengths-based practice with focus on older adults and their families. His interest in the spirituality and well-being of older adults and their families comes from his own experiences as a family caregiver of older parents as well as his professional background as a public social welfare administrator. He with his wife cared for his parents who suffered from dementia and cancer at home for several years. Through this experience, he has been intrigued by people’s innate strengths, which seem to flow from their inner deep spiritual springs, not only to endure the daily challenges but also to re-create the positive relationship with other people in need. Being a caregiver to a frail older person creates cumulative losses, but despite this, many of family caregivers become great helpers and collaborators who trust the potential of the persons at the end of life and facilitate their living up to their full potential. This family caring experience led him to have a strong commitment to improving the lives of older adults and their families.
Professor Lee has extensive experience in social work practice, social welfare administration and research both in the United States and in South Korea. Dr. Lee had worked for 20 years as a front line worker, supervisor and administrator at the Government Employee Pension Service, a government social service organization, in Seoul, South Korea, that provides various social welfare services including pension program, financial support, rehabilitation service, and welfare facility service for the retired older adults and their families. There he also worked as a director of the research center responsible for the government-funded social welfare research projects. In the United States, he worked at the Long-term Care & Aging Office and at the Center for Mental Health for Research and Innovation at the University of Kansas. Dr. Lee is also deeply interested in other related areas; the role of spirituality in the strengths-based social work practice, international social work, qualitative research methods, and social insurance policy and community integrity of people with mental illness.
Dr. Lee has been involved in mentoring young married couples for a long time in the community. He developed a Marriage and Family Therapy program for young Korean American families at the church and served as a director with his wife for several years. He enjoys teaching and finds it rewarding to facilitate students’ intellectual and personal growth. Lastly, Dr. Lee is living with his lovely wife and two sons in Hays. He loves to sing songs. He believes music is a wonderful way of empathizing with people. He has been a music director at the college and churches for last 30 years.