DR J. MATTHEW MELTON
Dean, College of Arts and Sciences,
Professor of Communication
Dr. J. Matthew Melton is the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and director of the Kairos Scholars Honors Program. He came to Lee in 1995 after a year teaching at George Fox College in Newberg, Ore. Before that, he was a doctoral fellow at Regent University, where he received a PhD in rhetoric and an MA in journalism. During his time at Lee, Melton has taught journalism, communication and humanities, served as department chair for Communication & the Arts ('97-'02) and as director of Student Publications ('97-'05).
Melton’s awards include Regent University’s 1992 Outstanding Journalism Graduate, the Religious Communication Association’s 1996 Dissertation of the Year Award, Lee University’s 2000 Excellence in Advising Award and several national collegiate press awards.
Among other prior careers, Melton spent three years as an educator in Cali, Colombia where he helped found and administer a church-based primary school. Melton’s passions include the humanities and all forms of mass media. He also continues to research, write and speak about film, popular culture and the rhetorical dimensions of politics, religion and technology.
He and his wife, Leslie, have been married since 1985 and have one son, Nicholas.