Robert H. Lee

Robert H. Lee OC, OBC (born 25 June 1933) is a Canadian businessman and philanthropist. He is the Founder and Chairman of Prospero, a real estate firm.

Biography

Born and raised in Vancouver, British Columbia. He was raised in Vancouver's Chinatown section. His father had immigrated from China and had settled in Vancouver, where he opened his own restaurant. Lee worked in his fathers restaurant as a cook. He also enrolled in Chinese school for 12 years. In his early teenage years, Lee became interested in the real estate business and often shared this interest with his father. With his ever growing interest in the real estate industry, he aspired to become an entrepreneur. Lee later enrolled at the Sauder School of Business at the University of British Columbia where he studied business and graduated in 1956.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

After graduating from Sauder in 1956, Lee opened a real estate business and began to build an extensive network, among this network included Tong Louie, the founder of the retail store, London Drugs and philanthropist David Lam, later B.C.’s lieutenant governor, who immigrated to Canada from Hong Kong in 1967.^[2]

Lee's breakthrough into real estate soon came in the 1960s, when Communist China was going to try to take over the British colony of Hong Kong. A mass exodus of Hong Kong Chinese immigrants made their way to Vancouver and many of these newcomers advised to visit Lee because he could speak their language. During this time, he expanded his business into apartments and founded Prospero in 1979, which has a diverse portfolio of real estate ranging from retail, office, and industrial properties.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Philanthropy

An ardent philanthropist, Lee donated much money to a myriad of causes in Vancouver's Chinatown, including the Chinese School that he graduated from as well as to the University of British Columbia, where the Robert H. Lee Graduate School was named in his honor. He also sent money to his ancestral home village in China. The Robert Lee YMCA (Downtown Vancouver) is named after him in recognition of his leadership donation towards the new facility. A member for 45 years, Mr. Lee made the YMCA a part of his daily life. ^[2]

Awards and Memberships

In addition, Lee is a recipient of many awards. Lee received the Order of British Columbia and was named Businessman of the year of 1990, selected by a panel of Chinese-Canadian businessmen and the Vancouver Board of Trade. He is also a trustee of the Bank of British Columbia, a directorship of the Real Estate Institute of Canada, Vancouver Foundation, B.C. Paraplegic Foundation and of the Port Authority of Vancouver. He is also the received an Order of Canada and an Honorary Doctorate of Law UBC.^[3]

He also is a member of YMCA Vancouver and serves as a director of Crown Life Insurance, Canadian National Railway and Wall Financial Corporation.^[1] In addition, Lee has been a Governor and Chancellor of UBC and was responsible for generating $400 million for the school's endowment as a founding member of the UBC Properties Fund.^[6]

Personal life

Lee is married to his wife, Lily, a graduate of UBC and have four children. All four of their children and their spouses were graduates of UBC.^[2]

References