Dr. Luke McClees
Dr. Luke McClees currently works for Academic Programs at the Project Management Institute. He oversees updating the higher education curriculum and the Sponsored Research Program. He also teaches graduate-level classes in Human Services. Before these positions, he worked full-time for over 15 years combined in primary, secondary, and post-secondary education.
Dr. Luke McClees has been the director of Military Affairs and Services at Saint Leo University. He oversaw the success and quality of life for all military, veterans and their families at Saint Leo University. Dr. McClees also advised the university on changing legislation and policies that might impact university stakeholders. At Saint Leo, he also co-created the world’s first major in Veteran Studies.
Before being the director of Military Affairs and Services at Saint Leo University, he taught, presented, and published for nearly a decade for the College of Education and Veteran Studies Program at Eastern Kentucky University. His work in Veterans Studies helped the field grow and become recognized nationally. He has published in national and international academic journals covering issues in education and spaces where military veterans and education intersect.
Dr. McClees’s journey into education started as a primary school Spanish teacher. He later moved to middle and eventually high school. He taught and chaired a world language department at the high school level.
Before studying and working in academics, Dr. McClees served as a sergeant in theUnited States Marine Corps with the Third Battalion, Eighth Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During his enlistment, Dr.McClees served in both mission-oriented and rotational deployments. His service included a combat action deployment to help end the genocide during the Kosovo War. His mission deployments included:
Operation Assured Response, Operation Quick Response, security operations in Guantanamo, Cuba, and Haiti, Operation Noble Anvil, Operation Shining Hope, and Operation Joint Guardian.