Yi-An Huang & Kristin Lee

For Yi-An Huang ’05 and Kristin T. Lee ’07, their wedding day will be the logical next step in a relationship built on faith and service.

The couple met in the fall of 2003, at a joint event between Harvard-Radcliffe Christian Fellowship (HCRF) and the Harvard-Radcliffe Asian American Christian Fellowship (HRAACF). Their brief conversation about medical missions inspired Huang to email the freshman an article about Harvard medical professor Paul Farmer, the founder of international non-profit Partners in Health. Lee appreciated the gesture­—but couldn’t quite connect the e-mail address to a face.

That summer, she volunteered at an orphanage in China and Huang ended up on her update mass-e-mail list. Upon returning to Harvard, she e-mailed the group to set up a lunch to discuss their summers. “I think only two or three people responded,” Lee says. Huang was one of them. After a long lunch in Huang’s house, Kirkland, the pair began a tentative e-mail friendship, bolstered by weekly trips to the same church. Lee realized that he was the same thoughtful junior who had e-mailed her the article earlier.

One incident in particular became significant to the pair. Leaving the T together after church, the friends encountered two homeless men, one of whom offered to write a poem in return for change. “Tell me the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to you and I’ll write a poem about that,” the man said. Lee’s response deeply impressed Huang. “Well, let me tell you about what made me Christian,” she replied. The group ended up getting dinner at The Wrap and talking more about faith and their lives.

“Afterwards, I was apologizing for getting him into the situation,” says Lee. Her spontaneity didn’t faze Huang. “That was one of the moments before we started dating that I was like, wow, this girl is really amazing and really cool.” says Huang. “It was really amazing to see her want to share with people and to have that conversation.”

Soon afterward, in November, Huang asked Lee to become his girlfriend. Although the pair didn’t know each other very well, “I think I had a sense that it could become really serious,” Huang says. “We shared a lot of the same passions and interests.” Huang had served as president of the Harvard AIDS Coalition and was active in Harvard Darfur Action Group, which Lee was very involved with. Both were busy participants in Christian groups on campus, Huang in the HRAACF and Lee as an executive board member of the HRCF.

Lee was especially enamored by Huang’s commitment to service. “He doesn’t get bitter about always serving or giving of himself,” she says. “I think his devotion to serving the overlooked is amazing.”

The couple stayed together after Huang graduated and began working at LEK Consulting in Boston. “As the relationship got deeper it felt like she was becoming more of a part of who I was,” says Huang.

Two years after their first date, Huang surprised Lee with a bouquet of 24 roses. After a few mishaps, he managed to lure her to the Weeks Footbridge, where he dropped to one knee and proposed, presenting Lee with his grandmother’s engagement ring. “I was so nervous that I still had my backpack on,” says Huang, laughing at the awkward, book-bag-accessorized hug the two shared.

The couple plans to reside in Cambridge, as Huang begins work at Foundation Strategy Group Social Impact Advisors, a non-profit that offers consulting services to foundations, governments, and non-governmental organizations. Lee is headed to Harvard Medical School next year.

While their chosen professions are different, both are interested in the places where they might align.

“We both have a lot of interest in global health and working overseas, so I think that’s on the radar,” says Huang. Before saving the world, however, the couple will be wed in Memorial Church on June 30, followed by a reception at the Harvard Club in Boston. The honeymoon will be in St. Kitts, where the couple can relax at the close of what Huang calls the “exciting journey” of their courtship.

—Staff writer A. Haven Thompson can be reached at ahthomps@fas.harvard.edu