Alfred McClung Lee (August 23, 1906 – May 19, 1992) was an American sociologist whose research included studies of American journalism, propaganda, and race relations.[1]
Lee was born in Oakmont, Pennsylvania in 1906.[2] He obtained an undergraduate (1927) and masters degree (1931) at the University of Pittsburgh and a Ph.D. from Yale University (1933).[1][2]
Lee's first book was The Daily Newspaper in America, The Evolution of a Social Instrument in 1937, which examined the development and influence of American newspapers.[1] The Fine Art of Propaganda (1939) (co-authored with his wife Elizabeth Briant Lee) examined the speeches of Father Coughlin.[3]
Among his academic appointments, Lee served as chair of the Sociology and Anthropology departments at Wayne University from 1942-47, and as chair of the Sociology and Anthropology department at Brooklyn College from 1951-1957.[2] He also served as president of the American Sociological Association (1976-77).[2]
Lee died of congestive heart failure at his home in Madison, New Jersey, on May 19, 1992.[1]