Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 - (Page 2)

FROM THE PRESIDENT’S DESK ENHANCING LEHIGH’S INTELLECTUAL FOOTPRINT As we celebrated the graduation of the Class of 2008 in a steady rain, I reﬂected on what an accomplished group they are and what a challenging world they are entering… That world came to Lehigh’s doorstep in the past year as our community expanded its intellectual boundaries to learn about the culture of Tibet and the teachings of Tibetan Buddhism. The culmination of this exploration occurred with the visit and teachings of the Dalai Lama that are documented so beautifully in this issue. The Class of 2008, like those that preceded them, beneﬁted from Lehigh’s important integration of teaching, research, and residential life that the study of Tibet exempliﬁed. Research and residential education do not end at the campus boundary; they span the world as Lehigh students, faculty, and staff embark on studies, internships, ﬁeld work, and collaborations abroad. International learning also occurs in our classrooms and residences through connections with our international students. International undergraduates represent almost 6 percent of the class of 2012—a record for the university. Looking to the future, we must ask ourselves how we can best continue providing the intellectual challenges and experiences needed for our students to excel in an increasingly interconnected world full of complex problems. We believe that the answer lies in our close integration of research, teaching, and residential education. Leading scholars bring the latest knowledge into the classroom and invite students to explore open-ended problems. We strengthened this integration of research, teaching, and residential education in August with the creation of two important leadership positions and the start of construction of an important new facility—all aimed at enhancing the university’s intellectual footprint. We announced the formation of the position of Vice President for International Affairs, a key step toward making international experiences a signature of a Lehigh education and preparing our students to work with diverse groups of people in a global economy. This important post will be ﬁlled by current Provost Mohamed El-Aasser, whose expertise in international affairs and understanding of the global aspirations of our students, faculty, and staff make him ideally suited to lead this important initiative. A search will be conducted to fill the position of provost. We also created the position of Vice President and Associate Provost for Research and Graduate Studies, who will champion research, scholarly and creative work, and graduate studies across the university. The vice president will support faculty and staff as they pursue their research, mobilize interdisciplinary teams to take on new collaborative projects, 2 lehigh alumni bulletin and distribute seed and ignition funds for innovative research ideas. Research and teaching will come together in our Science, Technology, Environment, Policy & Society building, or STEPS as it is known on campus, when it is completed in 2010. This $62 million facility will bring faculty, staff, and students from the sciences, engineering, humanities, and social sciences together to focus on pressing global environmental and energy issues. STEPS will also be the place where introductory chemistry, biology, and environmental science laboratories will bring our residential undergraduate students into the research and graduate education environment. The STEPS facility builds on our core institutional strengths and is among our highest priorities. I would like to thank those who have come forward with leadership gifts for this project. Like any program of this size and scope, we are counting on the continued strong support from our alumni, parents, and friends to make the STEPS initiative a cornerstone of the Lehigh experience. We will hold the ceremonial groundbreaking for the STEPS building on Founders Day, Oct. 16. This will also be a day to recognize our new assistant vice president for alumni relations, Robert W. Wolfenden. Bob has been part of the Lehigh family since 1995 and worked with Chris Marshall and the LUAA Board to shape our terrific alumni program. Bob will continue to blend the best of our traditions with progressive programming to bring world-class opportunities to our alumni community. Setting high standards for teaching, research, and residential education is an evolving process fueled by a changing world. We are fulﬁlling this responsibility to strengthen these features by enhancing the university’s intellectual footprint so that we continue to educate future leaders and create the knowledge needed to address increasingly complex world problems. The actions we are taking now to prepare for tomorrow will help Lehigh continue to inspire future leaders like our new alums, Victoria Berenholz, Dev Chanchani, and Ahmed Salim, who are featured in this Alumni Bulletin, to apply their knowledge to better the world. Alice P. Gast, President

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008 Contents From the President's Desk Mailbox On Campus Research Arts & Culture Sports Cover Story: The Dalai Lama at Lehigh Heart of a Champion Around the World in 80 Years Fighting for Children wth Autism Keepers of the Flame From the Publisher's Desk Alumni News The Last Word

Alumni Bulletin - Fall 2008

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