Montana State University has recently announced that two honorary doctorate degrees will be awarded on May 3rd in Bozeman. Recipients of honorary doctorate degrees at this year’s commencement will be Donna Shalala, the Secretary of Health and Human Services under Bill Clinton in nursing, and Lee Whittlesey in history.
Among Lee’s many books about Yellowstone perhaps the most popular are Death in Yellowstone and Yellowstone Place Names (both in their second editions). His complete compendium of research on names, Wonderland Nomenclature, is enormously useful to researchers like me in learning the origins of former and present park names.
Lee, 63, has served YNP for over forty years in many capacities, including tour bus driver, ranger, and park archivist, becoming Yellowstone Park Historian a decade ago. He holds a master’s degree in history from MSU and a law degree from the University of Oklahoma. He has already landed one honorary doctorate from Idaho State University.
I am proud to call Lee a personal friend, and his help toward my several Yellowstone projects has been invaluable.
Hats off to Lee!