Timothy Lee named Ruggles Scholar

Timothy R. Lee of Salt Lake City, Utah, has been named Bates’ second Ruggles Scholar, a fellowship awarded to a junior for academic excellence in the liberal arts and sciences.

The Ruggles Scholars Program was established through a generous gift from Robert T. and Francine Ruggles, the parents of Anne Ruggles Parisier ’83, M.D.

Lee, a studio art major who is also pre-med at Bates, plans to use the $1,000 scholarship grant to purchase art materials for the completion of his senior thesis, an exhibit in which he hopes to create large-scale collages that use unrelated items. He also enjoys working with mixed mediums, including painting, drawing and etching.

Fully engaged with his artwork, Lee has also considered a career in medicine. “I’ve been thinking of medical illustration,” he said.

Lee learned of his award just prior to his departure for a semester abroad at the University of Tasmania in Australia, where he will study photography, painting and sculpture. “I went to Australia with my family when I was 8 years old,” he said, “and I promised myself that one day I would go back.”

Donald Lent, Charles A. Dana Professor of art and visual culture, has taught Lee in two courses. “Tim is one of the best students of drawing I have had at Bates,” he said. “He has shown great ability in drawing, but also is very inventive, very capable of coming up with fresh ideas in his work.”

Bates’ assistant dean of admissions Dean A. Jacoby nominated Lee for the Ruggles Award. Jacoby, who met Lee through his recruitment efforts for the college, developed an enormous respect for the student and his family. “Tim watches his environment and reacts, shaping it in careful, subtle ways. He uses his talents of perception and thoughtfulness to connect the unrelated,” he said.

“That’s Tim’s vital importance to a community attempting to increase the breadth and differences of its make-up, its offerings and its resources while still graduating people who are able to see larger commonalities.”

A dean’s list student at Bates, Lee is a 1993 graduate of West High School. He is the son of Timothy and Suellen Lee of 1120 Second Ave.

The goal of the Ruggles Scholar program is to recognize exceptional undergraduate achievement and to offer encouragement and incentive to further cultivate this record of merit. Last year’s first Ruggles Scholar was Nancy Bullet of Auburn, Maine.