Dr. Charles Paul Conn 
Chancellor

Dr. Charles Paul Conn has dedicated more than five decades of his professional life to Lee University, shaping its identity and trajectory more than any other individual in its history. After serving as president for 34 years (1986–2020), he transitioned to chancellor, a role he held for nearly four years before serving one additional year (2024–2025) as both president and chancellor.

Under Conn’s leadership, Lee University experienced extraordinary growth in enrollment, academic offerings, campus development, and national reputation. During his presidency, the university’s enrollment and campus size increased fivefold, the annual operating budget grew tenfold, and more than 30 major construction projects were completed. He launched Lee’s first graduate and doctoral programs and introduced hallmark initiatives such as Global Perspectives and Service Learning.

Conn earned his PhD in psychology from Emory University in 1974, following undergraduate studies at Lee College and Georgia State University and the completion of a master’s degree at Emory. He later spent three years at Harvard University as a postdoctoral student in the Graduate School of Education, where he studied with several distinguished scholars, including Lawrence Kohlberg (1978), David Breneman (1993), Derek Bok (1998), Suarez Orozco (2003), Robert Kegan (2008), Rick Weissbourd (2013), and Nancy Hill (2018). In addition, he served as a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Divinity School in 1982.

He began his Lee career in 1971 as a psychology instructor, eventually serving as department chair, vice president, and full professor. Along the way, he authored more than 20 books—four of which were New York Times bestsellers.

Throughout his career, Conn has received numerous honors, including the M.C. Headrick Award as the outstanding CEO in the Cleveland/Bradley region—the only time it has been awarded to a nonprofit leader—and the Otis Floyd Award for excellence in higher education leadership in Tennessee. He has served on governing boards for many national and regional academic organizations, including the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, the Council for Independent Colleges, and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.

Conn and his wife, Darlia McLuhan Conn, have three children and ten grandchildren, many of whom are also Lee alumni.