Lea Coryell is the administrator of the Correll/Coryell Y-DNA Project and a retired librarian at the Library of Congress. He is also the co-administrator of the Burr DNA Project.

Lea is a graduate of the Ohio State University, the University of Connecticut, and the Catholic University of America, with degrees in American History and Library Science. He is a former at-large commissioner with the Fairfax County History Commission (VA) and a former president of the Herndon Historical Society (VA).
Lea credits his parents and maternal grandmother for his interest in genealogy. He has been researching his lineages for nearly five decades. His other interests include music, bicycling, and American Civil War history. He occasionally leads tours of Ball's Bluff Battlefield as a member of the Friends of Ball's Bluff.

Lea resides in the wine country of Lovettsville VA.