Robert Lee

Dr. Robert Lee is an Associate Professor of History at the University of Cambridge, focusing on 19th-century Indigenous dispossession and US state formation. His current research examines the St. Louis Superintendency’s role in treaty negotiations and territorial expansion. Previously, he held a junior fellowship at Harvard Society of Fellows and a PhD from UC Berkeley. He is currently on leave until June 2025.

Education: PhD in History (UC Berkeley), MA in American Studies (University of Heidelberg), BA in History and Economics (Columbia University).

Research integrates GIS spatial analysis with archival work, highlighted by the Land-Grab Universities project, which revealed Indigenous land funding university endowments. This project received awards for digital history and investigative journalism, including the George Polk Award. Ongoing work explores treaty systems’ impact on American West development.

His work has been supported by the NEH, Pulitzer Center, and US Department of Education. Awards include the Binkley-Stephenson Award and Organization of American Historians honors. He collaborates with journalists and institutions via landgrabu.org, a public geodatabase.

Teaching focuses on early American history (Paper 22) and supervises MPhil students in American History. His lab teams include digital humanities collaborators like Tristan Ahtone and Margaret Pearce.