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J. Lee Bennett

Biography

A native of Hopewell, Virginia, Jerris Lee Bennett enlisted in the U.S. Navy at age 17, spending eight years as a navigator of ships before being granted a commission in 1995 through the Navy's Seaman-to-Admiral Program - with 1,100 people applying for admission, but only 50 accepted. He serves as Force Protection and Anti-Terrorism Officer with the rank of lieutenant.

"I never imagined in all my wildest dreams that I would ever go to college," Lee says. After graduating from Officer Candidate School and completing tours on board a destroyer and a Naval Special Warfare patrol craft, Lee began working on his political science degree at the age of 30 at Old Dominion University.

At one point in his Navy career, he served in Washington, D.C. with the Ceremonial Guard and Presidential Honor Guard, where he encouraged a mentoring program for new guardsmen and organized a command softball team to relieve stress and build morale.

Lee has his sights set on graduate school, to continue serving his country through politics - and perhaps someday representing the State of Virginia in the U. S. Congress. "For a democracy to succeed we need ordinary citizens to volunteer to serve the masses," he says. It takes "honor, courage, and commitment" to be an effective public servant - the traits that Lee wants to put to work for his community as an elected official in the future.

Being a student senator and chief of staff to Old Dominion's student body president has taught him practical political skills. "Likewise, my participation in the Model United Nations has assisted in my diplomatic understanding of how the twenty-first century world works."

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