Dr. Chow-Yang Lee, BCE, professor and Endowed Presidential Chair in Urban Entomology at the University of California (UC), Riverside, was elected as a Fellow in 2024. He is internationally known for his research on the behavioral, ecological, and physiological adaptations of urban insect pests, such as cockroaches, bed bugs, termites, and pest ants. Lee’s work aims to understand how these adaptations help pests thrive in urban environments and their biological trade-offs. Utilizing these research findings, Lee and his students design, evaluate, and integrate various management tactics to develop a comprehensive approach to urban pest management.
Born in Malacca, Malaysia, in 1969, Lee received his bachelor of science degree (First Class Honors) in zoology/entomology in 1993. He then pursued graduate studies under the mentorship of Dr. Han-Heng Yap, focusing on insecticide resistance in the German cockroach. Part of his research was completed in the laboratory of Dr. Janet Hemingway at Cardiff University, UK. Lee received his Ph.D. in insect toxicology from Universiti Sains Malaysia in 1996. Following his Ph.D., he joined Universiti Sains Malaysia as a lecturer, becoming an associate professor in 2002 and a full professor in 2006. In July 2019, Lee relocated to California with his family to take up his current position at UC Riverside’s Department of Entomology. He has been a Board Certified Entomologist (Urban & Industrial) with ESA since 1997.
Lee has published more than 290 peer-reviewed papers, book chapters, and books. He co-edited three textbooks on urban insect pests: Advances in the Biology and Management of Modern Bed Bugs (2018), Biology and Management of the German Cockroach (2021), and Biology and Management of the Formosan Subterranean Termite and Related Species (2023). To date, Lee has mentored five postdoctoral researchers, 17 Ph.D. students, and 32 M.S. students, many of whom now serve as faculty members or senior researchers or hold leadership roles with chemical manufacturers and pest management industry in Asia and the United States. He is currently mentoring five graduate students.
Since 1996, Lee has been invited to deliver more than 240 presentations as a keynote, memorial, plenary, or invited speaker in more than 20 countries. He serves as a subject editor for the Journal of Economic Entomology and the Bulletin of Entomological Research. Additionally, he is on the editorial board of Taiwania, Tropical Life Science Research, and Tropical Biomedicine, and has guest edited special issues for Current Opinion in Insect Science, Insects, and the Journal of Economic Entomology. Lee is presently an Executive Committee member of the International Conference on Urban Pests (2021–present) and the Pacific-Rim Termite Research Group (2016–present), where he also served as president for two terms (2012–2016).
Lee has received numerous awards, including the Recognition Award in Medical, Urban, and Veterinary Entomology (2022) from the Entomological Society of America, the Mallis Distinguished Achievement Award in Urban Entomology (2022) from the National Conference on Urban Entomology (USA), the Top Research Scientists Award (2012) from the Academy of Science Malaysia, Fulbright Scholarship (2002) from the U.S. Department of State, and National Young Scientist Award (2000) from Ministry of Science and Technology, Malaysia. He has also served as a visiting professor at Kyoto University (2007, 2011) and National Taiwan University (2015) and as a visiting scientist at Purdue University (1997, 2002) and the University of Florida (1999).
