Lee Paul Sieg was president of the University of Washington

University of Washington

University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...

 from 1934 to 1946.

Sieg was born in Marshalltown, Iowa

Marshalltown, Iowa

Marshalltown is a city in and the county seat of Marshall County, Iowa, United States. The population was 27,552 in the 2010 census, an increase from the 26,009 population in the 2000 census. -History:...

. Sieg received his masters in physics

Physics

Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...

 in 1901 and his doctorate in philosophy in 1910 from the University of Iowa

University of Iowa

The University of Iowa is a public state-supported research university located in Iowa City, Iowa, United States. It is the oldest public university in the state. The university is organized into eleven colleges granting undergraduate, graduate, and professional degrees...

. Prior to his arrival at the University of Washington in 1934, he served as the Dean of the School of Education at the University of Pittsburgh

University of Pittsburgh

The University of Pittsburgh, commonly referred to as Pitt, is a state-related research university located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded as Pittsburgh Academy in 1787 on what was then the American frontier, Pitt is one of the oldest continuously chartered institutions of...

.

As university president, he oversaw the University of Washington during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. The war froze much of the school's physical expansion, but after the war the university launched a $31.5 million building binge to accommodate the influx of new students. Prior to Sieg's retirement, the university opened its school of dentistry

University of Washington School of Dentistry

The University of Washington School of Dentistry is located in Seattle, and is the only school of dentistry in Washington State. The school emphasizes research in anxiety, orofacial pain, tissue repair and regeneration, immune response to bacteria, and practice based research.- History :A part of...

 in 1945. The medical school opened in October 1946.

To the great credit of Sieg and his administration, the University of Washington was particularly responsive to the plight of its Nisei

Nisei

During the early years of World War II, Japanese Americans were forcibly relocated from their homes in the Pacific coast states because military leaders and public opinion combined to fan unproven fears of sabotage...

 students during the months leading up to the internment

Japanese American internment

Japanese-American internment was the relocation and internment by the United States government in 1942 of approximately 110,000 Japanese Americans and Japanese who lived along the Pacific coast of the United States to camps called "War Relocation Camps," in the wake of Imperial Japan's attack on...

 of Japanese Americans.

Sieg died in 1963 in Seattle, Washington.