Several "second-career" students at the University of Richmond School of Law have interesting stories to tell. They were military officers, scientists and engineers, among other occupations, before deciding to pursue law degrees. But Dr. Hyung Mo Lee, L'Ol , is particularly noteworthy. At 74, the retired surgeon is believed to be the oldest person to graduate from Richmond Law. When he leaves in May with degree in hand, he will have inspired and touched those who came to know him. 10
RICHMOND LAW
BY LAURA
S. JEFFREY
"Virtually every year I have taught here, we have had several older students matriculate,'' says professor of law and associate dean W. Clark Williams Jr., who has been at Richmond Law for more than 20 years. Williams taught Lee civil procedure during Lee's first semester at Richmond. "But age aside, Lee was one of the most mature students I have ever had, " Williams adds. "From the first time I met him, I was struck by his gracious and selfeffacing manner, and what a likable person he is. "Lee is immensely popular with his classmates," Williams says. "He almost never talks about himself, or the remarkable accomplislunents of his medical career. But the other students admire and respect and genuinely like him, as a colleague and a peer." Lee, a native ofTanchon, Korea, earned a bachelor of science degree from Keijo Imperial University in 1945, and a medical degree from Seoul National University Medical School in 1949. A year later, his country became mired in the Korean War. Eager for advanced medical training and facing limited options in his country, Lee came to the United States in 1953. He interned at a hospital in Wilmington, N.C., for a year before moving to Ri chmond to study with a renowned thoracic surgeon. Lee became an assistant resident at the Medical College of Virginia, then a surgical research fellow and resident. During this time, he met another Korean physician named Kyung, who was training to become a pediatrician. l11ey married and started a family, and Kyung retired early to raise their two young children full time. Their daughter is now an attorney in Washington, D.C., and their son is a doctor in Boston. Lee completed medical training in 1963, then became an instructor of surgery at MCV and quickly advanced to the rank of professor. He was chairman of MCV's division of vascular and transplant surgery and director of its clinical transplant program for more than 20 years.