THE NORMAN E. AND JOAN M. DEE
SCHOLARSHIP FUND

Dr. Joan E. McHugh Dee, Ed.D. grew up in Newton and graduated from Newton High School in 1951.  She met her future husband, Dr. Norman E. Dee, Ed.D. at a skating rink in Waltham during the early 1950’s.   Norman was a lifelong Concord resident who graduated from Concord High School in 1947, where he was Captain of the varsity basketball team.

Joan and Norman were the first of both of their families to go on to higher education.  They felt that their education was a privilege and that they should set an example to the children in the Dee and McHugh families.  They married in 1957 and made their home in Concord.  They both worked as educators through out their lives. They may have been the first married couple to work in the Concord Public Schools; Norman taught 4th grade and Joan taught 3rd grade.

In 1956, Joan graduated from Framingham State College with a Bachelor of Science degree. In 1959, she received a Master’s of Education from Boston University and in 1972 she received her Ed.D. in Educational Administration a Boston University School of Education. From 1956 to 1961, Joan worked as a teacher in the Natick Public Schools and from 1961 to 1970, she was a teacher in the Concord Public Schools. In 1971 she began her first job at BU as Assistant to the Dean.  For the following four decades, beginning in 1973, she continued to serve at Boston University as Associate Dean of the School of Education.  She retired from Boston University in 2011. 

In 1956, Norman graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in Elementary Education.   In 1959, he received a Master’s of Education from Boston University, in 1962, a Certificate of Advanced Graduate Studies from Boston University, and in 1970, his Ed.D. in Elementary School Science at Boston University. From 1956 until 1965, Norman was a teacher in the Concord Public Schools.  He began his career at Lesley College as an Adjunct Instructor in 1965 and moved through the ranks (Instructor, 1968-1969, Assistant Professor, 1970-1977) until his retirement as Associate Professor. In 2002, he became Professor Emeritus at Lesley College. He also served as President of the Concord Teachers Association and President of Phi Delta Kappa, Boston University Chapter.

Joan and Norman were devoted to their Catholic faith.  Joan enjoyed collecting antiques and Norman was a Civil War buff.  They traveled to Gettysburg and antiqued throughout New England.