[4] Gee stepped down from the Ohio State presidency in 2013 after controversies about anti-Catholic comments allegedly made in jest about the University of Notre Dame.

Gee was born in Vernal, Utah which is southeast of Salt Lake City, the son of an oil company employee and a school teacher.

from Teachers College, Columbia University in 1972,[6] Gee was named a judicial fellow and staff assistant to the Supreme Court for one year.

[7] After clerking for Chief Justice Warren Burger, Gee accepted a position as professor and associate dean at Brigham Young University.

[10] Critics pointed to his decisions to sign off on an ambitious brain science program without consulting the faculty, to sell $80 million in bonds for the construction of a biomedical sciences building, and to cut the university's extremely popular Charleston String Quartet, which many saw as part of Gee's effort to lead the school away from its close but unprofitable relationship with the arts.

According to a 2003 article by The Chronicle of Higher Education, Gee was the second highest paid university chief executive in the country with a purported total compensation package of more than $1.3 million.

[14] A September 2006 The Wall Street Journal article detailed that some of Gee's problems at Vanderbilt—including his wife's actions (such as smoking marijuana in the chancellor's official residence), criticism of the high cost of renovating his home, and the couple's lavish spending—had come back to haunt him.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education,[15] he received a total compensation of over $1.8 million in 2005/6, the highest of any continuing university president in the United States.

[19] According to The Chronicle of Higher Education,[15] he was to receive a base salary of total compensation of over $1 million, the highest of any public university president in the United States, though less than his pay at Vanderbilt.

[22] In 2011, Gee came under fire again for anti-Polish sentiment after comparing being the president at Ohio State to running the Polish army.

In response to Gee's remarks, the Polish American Congress demand Gee apologize for "his slur on the military of a nation that has been fighting valiantly and effectively alongside the United States" and for "bigotry and ignorance expressed by the president of such a large and prominent American university, especially since Ohio has a large Polish-American population and many OSU students are of Polish heritage.

[24] On March 11, 2013, Ohio State University trustees sent Gee a letter complaining that he had embarrassed the school with his comments.

The anti-defamation chair of the Ancient Order of Hibernians responded with shock that it took six months for Gee to apologize, saying that "this delayed action smacks of damage control for the media, rather than a sincere effort to address a bigoted insult to Catholics.

"[25] Bill Donohue of the Catholic League took a more sympathetic tack regarding the issue: "It's time for everyone to take a deep breath," he commented.

But context and tone matter, as does the frequency of what may be considered an offensive remark: a real bigot is someone who repeatedly, and maliciously, attacks others.

In a news release, he said, "After much deliberation, I have decided it is now time for me to turn over the reins of leadership to allow the seeds that we have planted to grow.

In August 2023, Gee announced a plan to shutter 10% of the university's majors, eliminate all language teaching, and fire 16% of its faculty, to address a budget crunch caused largely by the ill-fated expansion program that he previously pushed.

[42] In 2012, Gee became the first Honorary Esteemed Member of the University of Colorado's Buff Bow Tie Bunch (BBTB).