Sidney J. Lee was born in Wisconsin, and raised in Griggs County North Dakota.  He is a graduate from Cooperstown High School. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree from Valley City State Teachers College, his Masters degree from the University of Washington in Seattle, and did extensive graduate work from Harvard University. 

He taught the 7-8-9 grades at Manfred during the school years 1926-27 and 1927-28. 

From there he taught in Williston, North Dakota.  In 1933 he married Charlotte Thompson. Between 1942-1948 Mr. Lee was an English and Social Studies Teacher at Bismarck High School and Junior College. In 1948 he was named Dean of Bismarck Junior College and continued to serve as administrator there until his death in 1961. At the time Sidney J. Lee started at the BJC it was located on the 3rd floor of the Bismarck High School.  In 1955 the college moved to a new building that was constructed on the State Capitol Grounds at 900 E Boulevard on 15 acres of land. Within a few years the new campus was inadequate to meet the needs of the growing college. In 1959 Harold Schafer, a local entrepreneur and founder of the successful Gold Seal Company offered the college a tract of land overlooking the Missouri River at the northwest edge of the city. Classes were first held on the new campus in the fall of 1961. His leadership in developing this junior college was widely acclaimed. Unfortunately, Mr. Lee died the end of August of 1961 of a heart condition. He was only 56 years old at the time. 

Because of the leadership skills of Sidney J. Lee, an auditorium at BJC was named after him, and is well used by the students on campus and many events are open to the public as well. 

Mrs. Lee was a kindergarten teacher in Bismarck at the Highland Acres School. She was a well-respected woman, and a leader in the community.