Lee Usnick

Dr. Lee Usnick serves as a Professor in the Department of General Business, Marketing and Supply Chain at the University of Houston-Downtown, specializing in Legal Environment of Business, Commercial Law, Ethics and Compliance instruction.

His educational foundation includes:

• JD from University of Houston (Order of the Barons Honor Society; American Jurisprudence Awards in Insurance Law and Employment Law)
• MA in Business Administration from Webster College
• MSW in Direct Practice: Mental Health & Behavior Change from University of Texas at Arlington (Thesis: Locus of Control Among Alcoholics)
• BA in Psychology and Religion from Connecticut College

Dr. Usnick's research centers on regulatory compliance systems and business education pedagogy. His work pioneers innovative approaches to Legal Environment of Business instruction, including the Lead Professor Model for team teaching and holistic assignment design. He applies systems thinking to compliance scoping and auditing, addressing regulatory complexity through centralized/decentralized management frameworks. His scholarship bridges legal theory with practical compliance implementation across healthcare, cloud computing, and corporate governance contexts.

His 14 publications (2004-2024) reveal consistent evolution from foundational HIPAA compliance studies toward contemporary integration of ethics, accreditation standards, and digital-era regulatory challenges. Recent works emphasize pedagogical innovation to meet AACSB 2020 Business Accreditation Standards while addressing emerging compliance imperatives in business education.

As a Licensed Texas Attorney since 1985, Dr. Usnick serves on Editorial Review Boards for the Southern Journal of Business and Ethics (2018-present) and Southern Law Journal (2008-present). His 2025 task force leadership in designing UHD's BA 3999 Business Ethics and Law course demonstrates ongoing curriculum development impact. No student advising records or research grants are documented in available materials.