Former Head of School Daniel G. Lee, Jr. passed away February 26 at age 75. Mr. Lee served as Miss Hall’s seventh Head of School from 1984 to 1992.

Noted for his approachability, sense of humor, warmth, and an open-door policy, Mr. Lee also possessed a remarkable sense of awareness of young people. A proponent of single-sex education, his tenure saw the addition of new academic and extracurricular programs, including the Academic Skills Center, to meet the changing needs of students.

During Mr. Lee’s time at MHS, library facili­ties were renovated, and new construction included a chemistry lab, the Benjamin A. Groves Hall dormitory, four tennis courts, and a new playing field. Mr. Lee also grew the School’s enrollment, as well as the Annual Fund and endowment fundraising needed to support the growing student population.

“We were saddened to learn of the passing of Dan Lee,” said Head of School Julia Heaton. “In my conversations with alumnae from that era, he is often recalled as a kind, compassionate, and caring Head who guided Miss Hall’s through many changes, including increased enrollment, new programs, and improved facilities, continuing the School’s prominence as a leading independent school for girls. His leadership shaped MHS and its graduates in innumerable ways.”

Mr. Lee’s career in education spanned 44 years. After graduating in 1971 from Yale University, he began his career as Director of Admissions at the Trinity-Pawling School, in Pawling, N.Y., before returning in 1977 to his alma mater, The Taft School, in Watertown, Connecticut, as Director of Development, a role he would hold until joining MHS in 1984 at just 35 years old, succeeding Robert B. Bussey. Mr. Lee resigned as MHS Head of School at the end of the 1991-92 school year.

“While campus facilities were upgraded and expanded under his leadership, Dan mostly relished the opportunity to hone his student and faculty-centric leadership style where he focused on building a close-knit community that cared for and gave trust and respect to young women spreading their wings in a boarding school environment,” his obituary noted. “Simultaneously, he seized on the opportunity to develop a leadership team, and a faculty focused on serving this noble mission. “

Upon Mr. Lee’s departure from MHS, Board President Benjamin A. Groves noted, “You brought to your administration a remarkable sense of awareness of young people, their desires, their abilities, their interests, and how these could be channeled into the best results for the individual. You brought a great deal of compassion and caring to the student body. Your sense of humor and warmth and approachability were an inspiration for all students in the School. Miss Hall’s School will forever be indebted to the wisdom, the humor, and the caring of your leadership.”

After leaving Miss Hall’s, Mr. Lee joined Fryeburg Academy in Maine in 1993. He served as that School’s 53rd Headmaster in its then 201-year history and held the position for 20 years, retiring in 2013.

Mr. Lee is survived by his son, Daniel, and Daniel’s wife Kelsey, and his grandchildren, Walker Brooks and Eliza Grace, as well as his brothers John and his wife Loretta and their daughter Ginevra and Jeffrey and his wife Ann. He was predeceased by his loving wife Susie in 2019, and by his parents Ita and Daniel and his sister Jennifer.

Details of a memorial service in Kennebunkport, Maine, will be shared at a later date.

Have a favorite memory of former Head of School Dan Lee you would like to share? Please email it to advancement@misshalls.org for possible inclusion here and/or in the next Miss Hall’s Magazine.