About a decade ago, Lee joined the Cambridge-based New England Foundation for the Arts as development and communications coordinator. The organization’s mission was to create programming that “furthered the arts” in the region, he says.

“[I worked on] ways to connect artists to underserved communities,” he says. “I had a big immersion in arts administration…I was fundraising and doing PR and providing grants for artists. I wanted to get in even further.”

So Lee interviewed for manager of the Learning From Performers program at Harvard, which brings in guest artists for lectures, seminars and master classes with students.

“I hadn’t set foot in an academic environment since college,” Lee says.

But when he was offered the job, he says he thought the position would let him influence and inspire a world of students by exposing them to the work of famous artists.

“My belief [is that] artists have the power to transform our lives, to galvanize communities [and] to help us reach an understanding of ourselves and our relationship with the world and each other,” he says.

Lee signs all his e-mails with a quotation from Gina “Sha-Sha” Ang ’97 that reflects this conviction.

“‘There cannot be true intellectual development without the development of the a sense of self; and this, among other important and practical things, is what art that is well-taught and well performed can unveil,’” his e-mail signature reads.

To this end, Lee has brought in many artists—including Marisa Tomei, Mel Gibson, Bonnie Raitt, Jack Lemmon and the Blue Man Group—to perform and collaborate with Harvard students. Since July 1994, the program has sponsored 175 events featuring about 300 artists.

He says there’s no standard protocol for asking artists to come to Harvard. Instead, Lee listens to feedback from students, faculty and alumni, combining their thoughts with his own interests to decide which artists to invite.

When artists accept, Lee arranges the details of their visit. Each Learning From Performers program is individually tailored, and the artist chooses his or her interactions with students in classes and other activities.

Lee says he loves when artists sit down and eat an informal meal with students and other community members.

“I love the lunches. Despite disparate backgrounds, [all attendees] have a common interest in the artist,” Lee says. “Breaking bread with people is a great way to facilitate interaction and conversation.”

Lee loves to tell personal anecdotes about famous artists—he knows so many that he exclaims, “Oh, my memory!” when trying to remember the most intriguing ones.

He recalls a time a few years ago when theater director Diane Paulus wanted to create an ambitious theater piece with a group of student actors, singers, dancers, composers and designers, but gave him little specific details about her plan.