Business Development Strategist
Lee McClain
Before moving to Western Washington, Lee completed a BA and MA in history and political science at the University of Missouri. After college he joined the U.S. Airforce and served as a navigator aboard C-130 aircrafts. Lee's first five years were spent flying missions around the world; a period for which he was awarded the USAF Air Medal.
His educational background led to an assignment as a ROTC instructor teaching military history and national security policy at the University of California, Berkley. After spending three years in that role, Lee left the Air Force and received his MBA from the prestigious Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Upon graduating, he worked in New York as a financial analyst for the Exxon Corporation and then later in Los Angeles for ARCO.
Lee came to Bellingham in 1991 and started an independent consulting business which specialized in financial analysis and information technology. At the same time, he began teaching a few classes at Whatcom Community College and Western Washington University. In 1997, Lee was asked to teach full time at Western, where he now holds the rank of senior instructor in the College of Business and Economics. He teaches a wide variety of subjects including: finance, information systems, computer applications, telecommunications, statistics, and international business.
While still teaching at Western, Lee has returned to his roots in the business community as a part-time business strategist for the Center for Economic Vitality. Lee loves counseling his clients and helping them come up with new strategies to be successful (However, just in case his wife and kids are reading this, he loves them much more than his clients).
Although specializing in finance and technology, Lee assists clients in all phases of their businesses. He is a firm believer in a team approach, and likes to provide clients with different perspectives by bringing in outside expertise.
Away from work, Lee loves to travel, having visited 49 of the 50 states, six of the seven continents, and scores of countries across the globe. A lifelong softball player, he still plays in leagues and tournaments during the summer.