Obituary: Dr. Joon Chang Lee, Professor Emeritus of Physics

A memorial service will be held Wednesday, Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. at Korean Presbyterian Church in Hattiesburg, located at 310 Ronie St., for Dr. Joon Chang Lee, a University of Southern Mississippi Professor Emeritus of Physicswho died at his home in Hattiesburg Sunday, Feb. 13. He was 73.

Hulett-Winstead Funeral Home in Hattiesburg is in charge of arrangements.

A native of Korea, Dr. Lee earned his bachelor of arts in physics from Seoul National University and later a doctorate in physics from the University of Florida. He was a member of the Southern Miss Department of Physics and Astronomy faculty for 24 years. Prior to his tenure at Southern Miss, he taught at Duquesne University Northwestern State (La.) University.

Lee was part of a core group of faculty hired in the mid-1980s who transformed  the Department of Physics and Astronomy by enhancing its quality of instruction and research productivity, said Dr Joe Whitehead, dean of the Southern Miss College of Science and Technology and one of Joon's department colleagues. 

“He was one of the most thorough scholars I have encountered,” Whitehead said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.”

Dr. Lee's areas of expertise included theoretical physics. His research was widely published, including in his highly regarded book “Thermal Physics: Entropy and Free Energies” of which he recently completed a second edition. His favorite pastimes included gardening, cycling, hiking and opera.

He is survived by his wife Hye-Sook Lee; two daughters, Mi-Kyoung (‘Mitzi') Lee of Boulder, Colo. and Sue-Kyoung Lee, of San Francisco, Calif, and two granddaughters, Julia Lee Hunt and Isabel Lee Hunt.

A memorial in Dr. Lee's honor has been established with the Nature Conservancy. To support and learn more about this memorial, online visit http://support.nature.org/site/TR/Events/General?pxfid=2120&fr_id=1030&pg=fund