CHARLES PAUL CONN
President and Chancellor, Lee University
Cleveland Tennessee 37320.3450
CHARLES PAUL CONN has served as president of Lee University for thirty-four years and as chancellor for four. He became Lee’s sixteenth president in 1986, after fourteen years as a member of the psychology faculty at the same institution. In 2024 he accepted an appointment as president and chancellor, combining the two roles in which he had most recently served. Under his leadership, the university has seen significant growth in enrollment, physical campus, and reputation.
EDUCATION: Conn earned the Ph.D. degree in psychology from Emory University in 1974. Subsequently, he has spent three years at Harvard University as a postdoctoral student in the Graduate School of Education, studying with Lawrence Kohlberg (1978), David Breneman (1993), Derek Bok (1998), Suarez Orozco (2003), Robert Kegan (2008), Rick Weissbourd (2013), and Rick Weissbourd and Nancy Hill (2018). He was a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Divinity School in 1982. He did his undergraduate work at Lee College and Georgia State University, and earned a M.A. degree at Emory.
LEADERSHIP: Since 2015, Conn has served as a Commissioner on the board of directors of the Chattanooga Airport Authority. He has served on the Board of Directors of numerous higher ed organizations, including the Council of Independent Colleges and was chairman of the President’s Council of the Southern States Athletic Conference. He served six years as a Commissioner of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, including two years as a member of the Executive Committee of the Commission on Colleges. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Appalachian Colleges Association and on the board of the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association. He has served three three-year terms on the national board of the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities.
AWARDS: In 2001 Conn was the recipient of the M.C. Headrick Award, given by the Chamber of Commerce annually to the most outstanding CEO in the Cleveland/Bradley community in Tennessee; it is the only time the award has been given to a not-for-profit CEO. He also received the 1996 Otis Floyd Award from the Tennessee College Public Relations Association, given to the most outstanding higher education executive in Tennessee.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: Conn joined the Lee College faculty as an instructor in 1972 and reached the rank of Professor of Psychology twelve years later. He has served continuously at the same institution, except when engaging in postdoctoral study and a summer appointment as Visiting Professor of Psychology at Appalachian State University. As president, he regularly teaches one undergraduate psychology course each year at Lee. PERSONAL: Conn is married to Darlia McLuhan; together they have three children and ten grandchildren. He is 72 years old.
THE UNIVERSITY: Lee University is a masters-level university in Cleveland Tennessee. Its 5300 students make it the largest private college or university in East Tennessee. It serves students from all 50 states and 53 countries, offering 49 academic majors.