Lester Duncan Longman was born August 27, 1905 in Harrison, Ohio. Longman earned his A.B. degree at Oberlin College in 1927, graduating magna cum laude, and his M.A. there the following year. He took his M.F.A. at Princeton in 1930, and his Ph.D. there in 1934. He was on scholarship or fellowship steadily from 1927 to 1932, and a Fulbright Fellowship took him to Italy in 1952. Longman was a lecturer at Ohio State and Columbia universities in 1930, and was assistant professor of art history at McMaster University, 1933-1936.

In June 1936, Longman joined the faculty at the University of Iowa as head of the Department of Graphic and Plastic Arts, and also served as professor of History and Appreciation of Fine Arts. In September 1958 he joined the faculty at the University of California at Los Angeles as chairman in the Department of Art. He was involved in founding the College of Fine Arts at UCLA in 1961 and also introduced the master of fine arts degree. Lester Longman was married to Florence Lydia Brown; following her death, he married Helen Carroll. Mr. Longman retired in 1973 and died January 27, 1987.