Ben Lee earned his PhD from USC Annenberg in 2005, and now serves as a clinical professor. His primary teaching and administrative duties are with the school’s Master of Communication Management program. He has taught the program’s mandatory research methods and foundational concept courses, as well as courses in branding and media entertainment. Beyond his own teaching, he has supported and supervised the program’s expanding curriculum, with courses doubling from 40 to 80. At the same time, he also refined the curriculum’s focus, especially around marketing communication and media entertainment. Such expansion and focus in turn allow communication management to support other USC Annenberg master’s programs, including global communication, digital social media and communication data science. He works closely with program directors and administrative deans, covering admissions, academic advisement, and career development.

Many of his students hail from China, and through them he has learned much about the nation’s economy, society and people. He leads USC Annenberg’s collaboration with premier Chinese universities, including Shanghai Jiao Tong and Tsinghua. He has advised also other Chinese universities on developments in American higher education, as well as helped Chinese and American media entertainment firms understand better the other’s markets and audiences.

As a scholar and practitioner, he is intensely curious about human performance — how individuals, organizations and societies survive and thrive, especially in volatile and uncertain environments. He is devoted to supporting his students as they navigate such environments at a crucial point in their lives.