Lee Augsburger ’81 predicted he would attend Wheaton College in seventh grade. His confidence came from his Wheaton-student babysitters and the Men’s Glee Club concerts he experienced while his mother, Phyllis ’71, finished her Spanish degree. 

“I never even thought of applying anywhere else,” Lee notes. 

Today, Lee is senior vice president and chief ethics and compliance officer at Prudential Companies. In 2013, The Ethisphere Institute named him one of the 100 most influential people in business ethics, thanks to his work as board chair for the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association. 

“I could never have predicted all the twists and turns in my career,” said Lee. “I have simply sought to be faithful where I found myself.” 

At Wheaton, this was as part of Men’s Glee Club, which led him to tour Europe twice and sing in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, and the Kennedy Center. 

“Glee Club was my Wheaton identity,” Lee says. “The ensemble provided me with profound lessons in leadership and living in community, and the Psalms took on new life for me through our performances.” 

Thanks to Wheaton’s liberal arts curriculum, Lee felt “very prepared” for law school compared to his classmates at IIT/Chicago Kent who had technical degrees. His communications classes with Dr. Em Griffin HON—including persuasion, group dynamics, and public speaking—“have been invaluable,” he says. “And the influence of Paul Fromer M.A. ’79, who truly taught me how to write, shows up every time I type an email.” 

His most recent connection to Wheaton: his daughter, Rachel Marie Augsburger ’12. 

“Watching Rachel grow at Wheaton reinvigorated our commitment and giving to the school,” Lee says.