Texas Beta (Texas) Phi G. Lee Griffin is the president and chief executive officer of the Louisiana State University Foundation.
Griffin is the retired chairman and CEO of Bank One of Louisiana (now Chase). A longtime resident of Baton Rouge, he holds a B.S. in economics from the University of Texas at Austin (1960) and an M.S. in economics and finance from LSU (1962). He is married to Elizabeth Barrett Lobdell, an LSU College of Business Administration alumna, and together they have three children, Lee, Bill and Beth.
Griffin was named to the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction in 1992 and the E. J. Ourso College of Business Hall of Distinction in 1996. He is the Greater Baton Rouge Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals’ 2008 Outstanding Volunteer Fundraiser and Greater Baton Rouge Business Report and Junior Achievement Hall of Fame’s 1996 Businessperson of the Year. He is the recipient of the Istrouma Area Council of Boy Scouts of America’s Distinguished Citizen Award (1994), the National Conference of Christians and Jews’ Brotherhood Award (1992), and the Baton Rouge Speech & Hearing Foundation’s Volunteer Activist of the Year Award (1984).
Griffin became a member of the LSU Foundation in 1981, the same year he joined the LSU Foundation Board of Directors; he is the longest serving active member of the board, for which he served as president from 1989-90. Griffin and his wife are members of the LSU Foundation Laureate Society, which recognizes lifetime giving to the LSU Foundation, and the LSU Foundation 1860 Society, which recognizes those who name the LSU Foundation as a beneficiary of their estates.
Griffin was chairman of the second half of the LSU Campaign, LSU’s first major fundraising campaign. The campaign took place 1997-2001 and exceeded its original $150 million goal by 70 percent, or $105 million. During the Forever LSU campaign, which concluded Dec. 31, 2010, Griffin provided guidance and counsel. He has actively served on the Business Building Campaign Committee, including as co-chair of the largest fundraising effort in the 80-year history of the E. J. Ourso College of Business; the Business Education Complex is on schedule to open next year. Griffin founded the E. J. Ourso College of Business Partnership for Excellence Board, now the Dean’s Advisory Council, and served on that board from 1997-2003.
In addition to the aforementioned achievements, Griffin is a former member of the U.S. Olympic Committee and carried the Olympic torch through Baton Rouge in 1996. He was the speaker at LSU’s fall 1998 commencement, participated in the Flores MBA Program’s Distinguished Speaker Series from 1998-99, and served on the search committee that selected LSU Chancellor Mike Martin.
Griffin’s current and former organization affiliations include Louisiana Bankers Association, Louisiana Flagship Coalition, Louisiana State Civil Service Commission, Rotary Club of Baton Rouge and the boards of American Bankers Association, Baton Rouge Area Foundation, Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra, Boy Scouts of America, Capital Area United Way, Council for a Better Louisiana, Family Counseling Service Center, Friends of the Rural Life Museum, Greater Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce, Louisiana Art & Science Museum, Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, LSU Manship School of Mass Communication (Board of Visitors), LSU System Research & Technology Foundation, Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center, National Conference of Christians and Jews, Our Lady of the Lake Regional Medical Center, Pennington Biomedical Research Foundation, SECURE Louisiana’s Future, St. James Place, and University Laboratory School Foundation. Griffin is a former chairman of the Committee of 100 and helped to found The Young Leaders Academy of Baton Rouge, Inc., for which he was the organization’s first vice chair.
