Dan Lee received his B.S. from the University of Wisconsin–Madison (2001) and his Ph.D. from Duke University (2008). Before joining UNLV in 2015, he was a faculty member at Michigan State University.

His teaching and research interests lie within American politics and political institutions, in particular parties, Congress, and congressional elections. Recent and ongoing research projects assess the impact of third parties on the American two-party system, the dynamics of issue change and polarization among party elites, and various aspects of legislative politics, such as the interplay between party politics and the committee assignment process. His research has appeared in several journals, such as Political Research Quarterly, Public Choice, Party Politics, American Politics Research, and Comparative Political Studies.