Henry Lee (forensic Scientist) - Early Life and Career

Early Life and Career

The eleventh of thirteen children, Lee was born in Rugao city, Jiangsu province, mainland China, and fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War in the late 1940s. His father, who was traveling separately from the rest of the family, perished when passenger ship Taiping sank on 27 January 1949. Growing up fatherless, Lee never aspired to attending university; instead, he went on to graduate in 1960 from the Central Police College with a degree in Police Science (Central Police College is a "service academy" in Taiwan, and it is tuition-free, with living stipend provided). Lee then began his work with the Taipei Police Department, where he rose to the rank of captain at age 25, the youngest in Taiwanese history. He later immigrated to the U.S. with his wife in 1965.

In 1972, after coming to the United States to pursue his education, he earned a B.S. in Forensic Science from John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. He went on to study science and biochemistry at New York University and earned his M.S. in 1974 and Ph. D. in Biochemistry in 1975.