Thomas K. Lee was appointed in 2007 as the sixth leader of the New York State Teachers’ Retirement System (NYSTRS), which was founded in 1921. He is responsible for the administration of retirement benefits to nearly 449,000 participants and the investment of plan assets totaling $147 billion. NYSTRS is among the best-funded public pension plans in the nation with a funded status of 98%. NYSTRS pays approximately $8.2 billion in annual benefit payments, over 80% of which are distributed to New York residents. Lee is a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators (NASRA). He serves on the Boards of the National Council of Real Estate Investment Fiduciaries (NCREIF), PREA Foundation, and the International Centre for Pension Management (ICPM). Mr. Lee has a BA in Political Science and Sociology from Dickinson College, a MA in Political Science from Temple University, and a MBA from George Washington University.