Anna K. Lee, Ph.D. is Associate Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs and a Distinguished Professor of Health Psychology in the John R. and Kathy R. Hairston College of Health and Human Sciences at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. She is a tenured faculty member in the Department of Psychology and has previously served as Interim Associate Dean of Faculty Affairs.

Dr. Lee earned her Ph.D. and M.S. in Social Psychology from Howard University and her B.S. in Psychology from Southern University and A&M College. She was also Co‑Director of the Collective Health and Education Equity Research (C.H.E.E.R.) Collaborative, an interdisciplinary initiative that examines health and educational outcomes across social and institutional contexts.

Her research examines how social, structural, and environmental factors—including neighborhood context, racism, discrimination, and psychosocial stressors—influence health, educational, and behavioral outcomes. Her work emphasizes culturally grounded and contextually informed approaches to understanding physical health, mental health, academic persistence, and STEM participation, particularly among historically underrepresented populations.

Dr. Lee has served as principal investigator or co‑principal investigator on externally funded projects supported by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation, Spencer Foundation, and other sponsors. Her funded research addresses topics such as neighborhood socioeconomic conditions and chronic disease risk, psychosocial determinants of student success at HBCUs, institutional change in STEM education, and the health implications of racialized stress.

Her scholarship has been published in peer‑reviewed journals spanning health psychology, education, and the social sciences, and she is a frequent invited speaker on culturally responsive research practices, faculty development, and organizational change in higher education.

In addition to her research and administrative leadership, Dr. Lee served as an Associate Editor for Ethnicity & Health and regularly reviews grants and manuscripts for national funding agencies and academic journals.