Leslie Reed was born July 30, 1875, at Hepburn, Iowa. He graduated from the Iowa State Normal School (UNI) in 1900 with a Master of Didactics degree. In 1903 he received a Master of Arts degree from the University of Iowa. He married Frances B. Growell on July 26, 1905.
After he completed advanced study at Harvard University, he returned to Iowa and became the Superintendent of Schools for Northwood. He then moved on to Odebolt, Jefferson, and Missouri Valley. In 1914 he represented the State Board of Education as the inspector of Iowa secondary schools. Also in that year, he was President of the Southwest Iowa Teachers Association.
Leslie Reed taught in the summer term of 1916 and then joined the regular Iowa State Teachers College (UNI) faculty in the fall of 1916 as Advisor of Men. In 1924 he became the Dean of Men, a position he held until his retirement in 1945. While at ISTC, he was Director of the college branch summer schools and was a charter member and organizer of the National Association of Deans and Advisors of Men. During World War I, he was the acting adjutant of the Student Army Training Corps on campus.
He died in Seattle, Washington, on July 20, 1948, at the home of his daughter, Florence.
Compiled by Susan Witthoft, Special Collections and University Archives, March 1997