Lee Harrell

Dr. Lee Harrell is a Professor of Physics, currently serving as the Director of the Dean's Action Group. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the College of William and Mary in 1991 with a major in Physics with Highest Honors and a minor in Mathematics. He then attended graduate school in Physics and the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he earned the degrees of Master of Science in Physics in 1992 and Doctor of Philosophy in 1998. His dissertation work was the design and construction of scanning tunneling microscopes for the study of buried semiconductor interfaces and surface-adsorbed gold nanocrystals. Dr. Harrell did postdoctoral work as a Davies Fellow of the National Research Council from June 1998 through July 1999. During this fellowship, he taught PH201/PH202 Introductory Physics at West Point and conducted research in the area of magnetic resonance force microscopy in collaboration with Dr. Doran Smith of the Army Research Laboratory. In August of 1999 Dr. Harrell was appointed an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics of the United States Military Academy and was promoted to the academic rank of Associate Professor in 2004. He was promoted to the rank of Professor of Physics in 2020. During his time at West Point, Dr. Harrell has taught a wide range of introductory and advanced physics courses, mentored cadets as a Company and Department Academic Counselor, coached the Army Sailing Offshore Team, directed the Advanced Physics Program and been active in professional research, coauthoring numerous articles in peer-reviewed journals. In academic year 2020, Dr. Harrell led the effort to revise the institutional regulations governing employment and career development of the civilian component of the West Point faculty. In academic year 2021 Dr. Harrell was selected as the Dean’s Fellow for Policy with the task of overseeing the revision of all institution-level academic policies and as a Civilian Faculty Advisor to the senior Academy leaders. Dr. Harrell also served on the Reaccreditation Steering Committee as a co-chair for the Middle States Commission on Higher Education Standard 3 Working Group.