October 2025
David Lee was born and raised in Rye, New York during the Great Depression. His mother was a teacher, and father was an electrical engineer. The family lived for a brief time in Brooklyn before returning to Rye, where David attended Rye High School. David went on to serve in the US Army for two years. He graduated with a bachelor’s from Harvard University, a master’s from the University of Connecticut, and then earned his PhD in physics at Yale University. David was a professor of physics at Cornell University, and later, at Texas A&M. A major highlight of David’s life is winning the 1996 Nobel Prize in Physics! This was awarded for the 1971 discovery of superfluidity in helium-3. He has fond memories of travelling to Stockholm with his family for the ceremony, and sitting next to the Queen of Sweden.
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