Rex E. Lee

Rex Edwin Lee (February 27, 1935 – March 11, 1996) was an American lawyer and academic who served as the 37th solicitor general of the United States from 1981 to 1985. He was responsible for bringing the solicitor general's office to the center of U.S. legal policymaking. During his tenure, Lee argued 59 cases before the U.S. Supreme Court. A member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), Lee was an alumnus of Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Chicago Law School. Lee was the president of BYU from 1989 to 1995, and from 1971 to 1975 he was the inaugural dean of BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School (JRCLS). Background and education Lee was born in St. Johns, Arizona, on February 27, 1935. His parents were Mabel (née Whiting) and Rex E. Lee. According to an obituary in American Rifleman, Lee's father was shot and killed during a hunting trip in November 1934. His mother later married Wilford Shumway. Lee served a mission for the LDS Church in the Mexican Mission, serving as second counselor to the mission president. He first met his future wife, Janet Griffin (whose father was the Treasury Attaché of the US Embassy in Mexico City), while he was in Mexico. When Lee returned from his mission and enrolled at BYU, he became reacquainted with Janet, and they married on July 7, 1958, in Arizona. Lee and Griffin had seven children.