UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A longtime Penn State College of Education faculty member, David Lee, professor in the Department of Educational Psychology, Counseling and Special Education (EPCSE), has been granted the title of Penn State distinguished professor.
“I was driving home when Dean [Gwendolyn] Lloyd gave me the news,” Lee explained. “Obviously, I’m super excited about it, but I think it's a team effort. I absolutely couldn't have done any of this without my family and their support, and our students, who are awesome. I've had amazing colleagues along the way, and mentors. Finding out while driving home gave me a chance to think about who I needed to thank.”
Lee is one of 14 new distinguished professors named for 2026 by Penn State's Office of Faculty Affairs.
At Penn State, being named as distinguished professor is recognition of significant leadership in raising the standards of the University with respect to teaching, research and service. Distinguished professors are national and international leaders in research and creative activity. In addition, they have also demonstrated excellence in teaching and contributed significantly to the education of students who subsequently have achieved recognition of excellence in their fields. They also make noteworthy contributions through their service to the University and the profession.
While at the College of Education, Lee has served two terms as professor-in-charge of special education, director of the World Campus Applied Behavior Analysis program and department head in EPCSE.
“Service is a very important part of our role as faculty,” Lee said. “The most rewarding aspect, particularly as department head, was learning about the incredible work that is going on in EPCSE and the college. Our work has a direct impact on people in the commonwealth and beyond.”
At the national level, he was voted to the presidential line for the Council for Exceptional Children’s Division for Research and appointed to two terms on the social and behavioral grant review panel at the Institute of Education Sciences.
“Engaging with national organizations and the research community helps to shape the direction of research and service delivery for individuals with disabilities,” Lee said. “These activities help bring our research to life by making the research to practice link more evident.”
“Dr. Lee exemplifies the highest standards of scholarly achievement, pedagogical excellence and institutional service,” Lloyd said. “His leadership in advancing evidence-based practices and preparing future scholars and teachers reflects Penn State’s land-grant mission to improve lives through teaching, research and service. I am so pleased for David’s accomplishments to be recognized with the title of distinguished professor.”
Lee’s research, which has been supported with more than $8 million in external grant funding from the Department of Education, involves helping teachers support students who have behavioral and mental health needs.
“As a teacher, you sometimes have students who are struggling, often because of behavioral, academic and social difficulties,” Lee said. “A key issue is to get evidence-based practices into the hands of teachers so that they can best support their students.”
The early portion of Lee’s career was spent developing those individual interventions. He, along with doctoral students and colleagues, studied the idea of behavioral momentum, getting children moving and gaining momentum of engagement in school.
Lee was invited to work with Tom Farmer, a former Penn State faculty member now at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Jill Hamm of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, on Project SEALS — Supporting Early Adolescent Learning and Social Success.
“We were working to support students as they made the jump from fifth to sixth grade in middle schools,” he said. “The idea morphed into a broader support program with Project BASE — Behavioral, Academic and Social Engagement — a professional development model that helps teachers support students with disabilities in general education settings.”
Lee cites Farmer and Hamm, as well as his doctoral mentors Phillip Belfiore and Sydney Zentall among those who have positively impacted his career. Since working with them, Lee says he’s been able to take some of that initial work on school engagement and continue to help develop the BASE program.
“There is a big focus in our field on implementing evidence-based practices, which is great, but sometimes the practices need to be adapted to better fit individual teachers and classrooms,” Lee said. “I’m not sure that we always do a great job preparing teachers to adapt existing interventions. The process of adapting interventions to individual classrooms is our next focus, along with moving into high school settings.
“There is a lot of research on behavior, academic and social supports for younger students, but we don’t have that same level of research for high school-age students,” he continued. “That makes sense, because the thinking has generally focused on providing students with support as early as possible. That said, we've left high school teachers with fewer student-support options.”
The list of what Lee likes about Penn State is long. He loves the campus. He loves the Penn State community. As a native of the Pittsburgh region, he loves being within driving distance of family. As a sports fan, he loves driving past Beaver Stadium on his way to work.
But, he said, the best attribute of Penn State and the College of Education is obvious to him.
“It’s the students,” he said. “They are just great people. I really enjoy them. The undergraduate students ask good questions, have interesting perspectives, and are excited about becoming teachers. I also enjoy working with our graduate students. They remind me of what it’s like to be a new scholar in the field where everything is new and the potential for impact is great.”
Lee said he feels most proud of how current research immediately connects to practice at Penn State — which sets it apart from other institutions.
“This entire enterprise is about making life a little better for kids by preparing strong teachers,” he said. “I can collect data in a school in the morning, and then in the afternoon have class with my undergrads and say, ‘This is what I found today in these classrooms.’ Linking research to practice helps maximize the impact of our students when they graduate and begin working in classrooms as teachers.”
Even more than a quarter-century into his tenure in the College of Education, Lee said he appreciates that he still gets to do a job that he loves.
“It’s important to remember that awards are often team-oriented,” he said. “I have been very fortunate to have great students, colleagues and mentors along the way. This award is as much about them as it is about me.”