UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Deborah Lee will become Undergraduate Education’s institutional research director starting in January. Lee will design and lead research studies for the Office of Undergraduate Education in institutional assessment, strategic planning and program improvement.
Lee will succeed Andrew Watters, who is retiring this month and served Penn State Undergraduate Education as an analysis and planning consultant from 2014 to 2016 and as research and analysis associate from 2016 to 2023.
Lee previously served as the director of research and analysis in the Penn State Office of the Vice President for Commonwealth Campuses, a role she held since June 2022. Her tenure with Penn State began in November 2015 as assistant director for Penn State Student Affairs Research and Assessment, and later as associate director starting November 2017. Her work will now bring her back to Undergraduate Education after previously working as a data analyst consultant with the Schreyer Institute for Teaching Excellence in 2013.
As institutional research director in Undergraduate Education, Lee will work with leadership and administrators to prioritize research questions and data needs, manage institutional research projects, and advise on the advantages and disadvantages of analytical techniques to address different questions. She also will serve as a liaison to other institutional research offices at the University, such as the Office of Planning, Assessment, and Institutional Research; Student Affairs; and Commonwealth Campuses.
Lee earned a master’s degree and doctorate in educational psychology from Penn State with a focus on educational measurement and assessment. She earned her bachelor’s degree in psychology and a minor in religion from Emory University in Atlanta.
Lee was born in Atlanta as her father was finishing his graduate work, and the family moved back to Korea for several years before returning to the U.S. She said as a student she gravitated toward careers that allowed her to leverage her inclination to form meaningful relationships and her interest in helping people, considering careers such as clinical psychology and teaching, eventually landing in the field of educational psychology.
“I got into educational psychology because it’s all about how people learn and how you assess that learning process” she said. “As I was studying that, there are sub areas like learning theory and educational measurement and assessment. I discovered psychometrics, which is more technical, and I’ve always really enjoyed that. Yet, what I enjoy even more is that there’s also room for creativity on how to use technical skills to solve real problems and support real-life missions.”
“I’m really excited to learn more about Undergraduate Education, use my skills and experiences to support the different offices and get to know people and build relationships.”
Lee lives in State College and next summer will marry her fiancé, Adam Bogert, who also works at Penn State.
Penn State Undergraduate Education is the academic administrative unit that provides leadership and coordination for University-wide programs in support of undergraduate teaching and learning at Penn State.