Originally from Texas, Lee Mayfield began his academic journey at Tyler Junior College, in Tyler Texas before transferring to The University of Mississippi.  He graduated from the University of Mississippi with a B.F.A in Theater.  He received his master's degree in Communication Studies from the University of Alabama.  Before coming to James Madison University, he taught at the University of Alabama, University of Texas at Austin, and Trident Technical College in Charleston, South Carolina.  At JMU, he has taught Presentational Speaking; Signs, Symbols, and Social Interaction; Oral Interpretation, Business and Professional Speaking, Communication Training, and a special topics course in event planning. 

For 28 years, Professor Mayfield coached of the JMU individual events team, he helped the speech team members become communication scholars.  Under his direction, the speech team was nationally ranked for seven years and has been in the top 20 for three years in a row.  His focus is on advising Communication Studies Declared majors.   

In his spare time, Professor Mayfield enjoys riding his bike, reading, traveling, and discoving more about the wine country of Central Virginia.  His favorite aspect about JMU is the students, who make up a strong undergraduate program and in a diversity of concentrations.  Additionally, he notes that colleagues are passionate about what they are doing at JMU. 

“Make sure you have a broad understanding of the discipline instead of pigeon-holing yourself in one aspect. Enjoy the fact that you are taking General Education classes for a particular reason and that you will end up using them in the end.”