Gus Lee
Encyclopedia
Gus Lee is a best-selling American
author
and ethicist
. He was born in San Francisco, a place he recounts in his childhood memoir/novel China Boy (1991). He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, did graduate study in East Asian History and obtained a J.D.
(law) degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall). At Davis, Lee served as an Assistant Dean of Students for the Educational Opportunity Program and project coordinator for Asian American Studies
. He returned to the Army as a lawyer, serving as a Command Judge Advocate, a U.S. Senate ethics investigator and legal adviser to the worldwide Connelly Investigation. He was a whistle blower, which involuntarily launched him into his work as an ethicist and "couragist." He later became a senior deputy district attorney, acting deputy attorney general and senior executive for legal education for the State of California. In the corporate arena, he has been an executive vice-president, chief operating officer and vice-president. He is now a chief learning officer.
Lee recounts his life in best-selling autobiographical fiction. A challenging childhood in San Francisco's Panhandle is the subject of his first best-seller China Boy (1991), which became San Francisco's first One City One Book
selection. Honor and Duty (1994) describes the tension between friendship and fidelity in a tale about West Point; Tiger's Tail (1996) finds the protagonist pursuing enemy secret agents and shaman prophets on the Korean DMZ; No Physical Evidence (2000) is a legal thriller that captures his "most emotionally difficult trial," involving a vulnerable teenage victim, and recounts the simultaneous loss of their first daughter. Various efforts have been under way to convert the books into film. Lee followed with a memoir, Chasing Hepburn (2004), in which his delicate mother and three young sisters conduct a harrowing flight from wartime China to America. His most recent work is the best-selling, principles-based, 2007 Golden Quill Award-winning, Courage: The Backbone of Leadership. Endorsed by Warren Bennis and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, it describes the measurable behaviors of integrity and courage and has been adopted by corporations, West Point's National Conference on Ethics, the Kansas City Police Department and various business schools. He has contributed to anthologies, written for Time
and Encyclopedia Britannica and written op-eds. He credits Amy Tan
, David Kai Tu, his wife, and his agents, Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich, for his unanticipated writing career.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and ethicist
Ethicist
An ethicist is one whose judgment on ethics and ethical codes has come to be trusted by a specific community, and is expressed in some way that makes it possible for others to mimic or approximate that judgement...
. He was born in San Francisco, a place he recounts in his childhood memoir/novel China Boy (1991). He attended the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, did graduate study in East Asian History and obtained a J.D.
Juris Doctor
Juris Doctor is a professional doctorate and first professional graduate degree in law.The degree was first awarded by Harvard University in the United States in the late 19th century and was created as a modern version of the old European doctor of law degree Juris Doctor (see etymology and...
(law) degree from the University of California, Davis School of Law (King Hall). At Davis, Lee served as an Assistant Dean of Students for the Educational Opportunity Program and project coordinator for Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies
Asian American Studies is an academic discipline which studies the experience of people of Asian ancestry in America. Closely related to other Ethnic Studies disciplines such as African American Studies, Latino/a Studies, and Native American Studies, Asian American Studies critically examines the...
. He returned to the Army as a lawyer, serving as a Command Judge Advocate, a U.S. Senate ethics investigator and legal adviser to the worldwide Connelly Investigation. He was a whistle blower, which involuntarily launched him into his work as an ethicist and "couragist." He later became a senior deputy district attorney, acting deputy attorney general and senior executive for legal education for the State of California. In the corporate arena, he has been an executive vice-president, chief operating officer and vice-president. He is now a chief learning officer.
Lee recounts his life in best-selling autobiographical fiction. A challenging childhood in San Francisco's Panhandle is the subject of his first best-seller China Boy (1991), which became San Francisco's first One City One Book
One City One Book
One City One Book is a generic name for a community reading program that attempts to get everyone in a city to read and discuss the same book. The name of the program is often reversed to One Book One City, or is customized to name the city where it occurs...
selection. Honor and Duty (1994) describes the tension between friendship and fidelity in a tale about West Point; Tiger's Tail (1996) finds the protagonist pursuing enemy secret agents and shaman prophets on the Korean DMZ; No Physical Evidence (2000) is a legal thriller that captures his "most emotionally difficult trial," involving a vulnerable teenage victim, and recounts the simultaneous loss of their first daughter. Various efforts have been under way to convert the books into film. Lee followed with a memoir, Chasing Hepburn (2004), in which his delicate mother and three young sisters conduct a harrowing flight from wartime China to America. His most recent work is the best-selling, principles-based, 2007 Golden Quill Award-winning, Courage: The Backbone of Leadership. Endorsed by Warren Bennis and General H. Norman Schwarzkopf, it describes the measurable behaviors of integrity and courage and has been adopted by corporations, West Point's National Conference on Ethics, the Kansas City Police Department and various business schools. He has contributed to anthologies, written for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and Encyclopedia Britannica and written op-eds. He credits Amy Tan
Amy Tan
Amy Tan is an American writer whose works explore mother-daughter relationships. Her most well-known work is The Joy Luck Club, which has been translated into 35 languages...
, David Kai Tu, his wife, and his agents, Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich, for his unanticipated writing career.