With more than 35 years wireless experience and 37 US patents, Dr. William C.Y. Lee is regarded as a world-class scholar in wireless communications. Dr. Lee spent 15 years as one of the pioneers in developing the advanced wireless technology, AMPS, for Bell Labs. Subsequently, he joined the ITT Defense Communications Division where he headed the advanced mobile communications system. In 1990, Dr. Lee invented and patented a new microcell system that increased radio capacity by 2.5 times over the conventional microcell system. As a leader in personal communications network (PCN) technology, Dr. Lee led the team that won the PCN license in the UK in 1989 for PacTel. In addition, he headed up the application of PacTel’s PCS experimental trial in 1993. It was under his leadership that the first CDMA commercial system was completed in Los Angeles, CA in 1995. Dr. Lee went on to assist Qualcomm in the development of their CDMA technologies. Dr. Lee formerly served as co-chairman of the CTIA ARTS Committee, which initiated the selection of the 2G Standard System for the United States. His previous positions also included Chief Scientist and Vice President of Vodafone Airtouch and Chairman of LinkAir Communications, Inc.

Dr. Lee invented two wave propagation models: the Lee area-to-area propagation model and the Lee point-to-point propagation model. In the early days, engineers used Lee's models for deploying the cell sites of cellular systems.

Dr. Lee has been elected as an IEEE Fellow and has served as a member of numerous councils, including the California State Council on Science and Technology, the US Council on Competitiveness and the FCC Technical Advisory Council. From 1979-1985, he served as the associate editor of IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology under Editor-in-Chief George McClue. He has earned many prestigious awards, including the IEEE VTS Avant Garde Award, the C.T.I.A. Award, the CDMA Industry Achievement Award, the SATEC Award, a Bell Lab Service Award and, most recently, the IEEE Third Millennium Medal Award. Dr. Lee has published more than 200 articles and seven text books on wireless communications. He was elected a Fellow of the California Council of Science and Technology in 2003.

In 2014, Dr. Lee received the IEEE VTS Hall of Fame Award for his pioneering and lasting contributions to the principles and practice of mobile radio communications and cellular telephony.

Dr. Lee got his BS degree from Chinese Naval Academy in Taiwan and both MS and PhD from Ohio State University.