Lehigh University facts for kids

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Lehigh University

Motto	Homo minister et interpres naturae (Latin)
Motto in English	"Man, the servant and interpreter of nature"
Type	Private research university
Established	July 27, 1865; 159 years ago (1865-07-27)
Founder	Asa Packer
Accreditation	MSCHE
Religious affiliation	Nonsectarian; historically Episcopal Church
Academic affiliations	NAICU ORAU Space-grant
Endowment	$1.37 billion (2020)
President	Joseph J. Helble
Provost	Nathan Urban
Academic staff	540 (full-time)
Administrative staff	1,196
Students	6,953
Undergraduates	5,178
Postgraduates	1,775
Location	Bethlehem , Pennsylvania , United States
Campus	Small city, 2,350 acres (950 ha)
Newspaper	The Brown and White
Colors	Brown and white
Nickname	Mountain Hawks
Sporting affiliations	NCAA Division I FCS – Patriot League EIWA MARC
Mascot	Clutch the Mountain Hawk

Lehigh University's "Commercial Seal." In December of 2001 the university attempted to make this the official seal, however, backtracked due to alumni opposition

Lehigh University (LU) is a private research university in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania. The university was established in 1865 by businessman Asa Packer and was initially affiliated with the Episcopal Church. Lehigh University's undergraduate programs have been coeducational since the 1971–72 academic year. As of 2019^[update], the university had 5,047 undergraduate students and 1,802 graduate students.

Lehigh has five colleges: the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business, the College of Education, and the College of Health. The College of Arts and Sciences is the largest, with 35% of the university's students. The university offers Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Arts, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Engineering, Master of Education, and Doctor of Philosophy degrees.

The university is classified among "Doctoral Universities R2: High Research Activity".

Campus

An illustrated postcard of Lehigh University's campus in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in 1907

Alumni Memorial Building in November 2019

Located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania in the historically industrial Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, which is located between two of the nation's largest cities, 70-mile (110 km) from Philadelphia, the nation's sixth-largest city, and 85-mile (137 km) from New York City, the nation's largest city.

Lehigh encompasses 2,350 acres (9.5 km²), including 180 acres (0.73 km²) of recreational and playing fields and 150 buildings comprising four million square feet of floor space. It is organized into three contiguous campuses on and around South Mountain, including:

• The Asa Packer Campus, built into the northern slope of the mountain, the university's original and primary campus;
• The Mountaintop Campus, atop South Mountain, including intramural sports fields and Iacocca Hall; and
• The Murray H. Goodman Campus, immediately south, where a 16,000-seat stadium and other sports facilities are located.

In May 2012, Lehigh was the beneficiary a gift of 755 acres of property in nearby Upper Saucon Township, Pennsylvania from the Donald B. and Dorothy L. Stabler Foundation. The gift from the estate of the long-time benefactor allowed the university to expand to its current size of 2,350 acres across all its campuses, and to consider new long-term potential uses for the university's new properties.

Admissions

For the Class of 2027, Lehigh received 18,414 applications and accepted 5,246 for an acceptance rate of 28%.

Rankings

U.S. News & World Report's Best Colleges Ranking ranked Lehigh tied for 47th among "National Universities", tied for 26th for "Best Undergraduate Teaching", and 24th for "Best Value Schools" in its 2024 edition of "Best Colleges". In 2015, The Economist ranked Lehigh seventh among national universities in its ranking of non-vocational U.S. colleges ranked by alumni earnings above expectation. In its 2024 ranking of best U.S. colleges, The Wall Street Journal ranked Lehigh the 14th-best overall.

Along with three other Pennsylvania colleges, Dickinson College in Carlisle, Lafayette College in Easton, and Muhlenberg College in Allentown, Lehigh was a 2020 recipient of the Campus Sustainability Achievement Award issued by the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education in commemoration of its participation in the Solar Collaboration Project.

Academics

Sayre Observatory, an 1896 donation to the university

Iacocca Hall, named in honor of Lehigh University alumnus Lee Iacocca

The university's Packard Laboratory in November 2015

Williams Hall in November 2019

As of 2019^[update], Lehigh has 540 full-time faculty members, with 95% holding a doctorate degree or the highest degree in their field. Faculty members are required to have a minimum of four office hours per week.

Lehigh's average class size is 28 students; the student-to-faculty ratio is 9:1.

The university offers undergraduate enrollment to all its colleges except its College of Education. Students are permitted to take courses or major and minor in subjects outside of their respective college. The university operates on a semester system.

P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science

Graduates of Lehigh's engineering programs invented the escalator and founded Packard Motor Car Company and the companies that built the locks and lockgates of the Panama Canal. Other notable alumni include Roger Penske, Lee Iacocca, John W. Fisher, and Terry Hart. Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society, was founded at Lehigh. In 2005, George Tamaro, a Lehigh University master's degree in civil engineering alumnus, was the John Fritz Medal award recipient, issued by the American Association of Engineering Societies.

College of Business

Starting in the late 19th century, the need for specialized schools for business and economics became prominent, and after Robert E. Lee established the first business school in the United States, Washington and Lee University's Williams School of Commerce, Economics, and Politics in 1898. This resulted in many of America's university to open their own business schools with 143 dedicated business schools opening from 1915 to 1924, including Lehigh's College of Business Administration in 1918 based out of Coppée hall.

Prior to this, Lehigh had introduced business and economics classes as part of the department of Arts and Sciences in 1893, with the first dedicated classes in economics being offered in 1897, with the first professor of economics being hired by the school, John L. Stewart, in 1898. Stewart is credited with creating the College of Business, establishing its original courses, and teaching most of the classes himself. In 1909 Lehigh offered its first degree in business management and in 1918, University President, Henry Sturgis Drinker, made the decision to split the school into 3 colleges; the College of Engineering, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the College of Business Administration. The College's inaugural class of 1922 numbered just 77.

Through the 1930's the College of Business Administration stayed consistent, with around 10 professors and 350 students, and in 1938 was accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business, with enrollment that year jumping to 465, or 25% of the total student body. In 1952 the College of Business Administration began offering a five-year course in Industrial engineering and business, as well as graduate courses for Master of Business Administration degrees and was expanded to include Master of Science degrees by 1964. In 1957 the College moved from Coppée hall to the purpose-built Drown Hall.

In 2018, U.S. News & World Report ranked Lehigh's part-time MBA program 20th in the nation.

In 2012, BusinessWeek ranked Lehigh's College of Business 31st in the nation among undergraduate business programs. In 2012, BusinessWeek ranked Lehigh the seventh-best overall undergraduate finance program in the nation, and ranked its undergraduate accounting program the 21st-best in the nation.

In 2012, Entrepreneur Magazine and The Princeton Review named Lehigh the 24th- best undergraduate college for entrepreneurship.

College of Arts and Sciences

Based in Maginnes Hall, Lehigh offers a variety of humanities courses and visual arts programs and many music programs, including a marching band, the Wind Ensemble, and the Philharmonic orchestra. It has a dedicated Humanities Center, which is the site for many literature and other arts-based programs, including the Drown Writers Series.

Lehigh also has a program called ArtsLehigh, oriented towards enhancing interest in the arts on campus.

College of Education

More than 7,000 students have received master's, education specialist, Pennsylvania Department of Education teaching certificates and certifications, doctoral degrees, and professional certificates from Lehigh's College of Education as of 2018^[update].

College of Health

Lehigh's College of Health offers classes in biostatistics, epidemiology, population health data science, and others related to population health. The college opened on August 21, 2020, and was the first in the world to offer undergraduate, graduate, and executive degrees in population health. It is based at the Health, Science, and Technology (HST) building which opened in January 2022.

Administration

Board of trustees

As a private institution, Lehigh University is governed by its board of trustees, established 1866. The board can have no less than 18, nor more than 35 members at any given time. The board selects the university president, as well as their vice presidents who operate as "executive agents" of the board.

Presidents

Student governance

In 1988, a student senate was created at the university to act as a governing body for undergraduate students, though it is empowered only to offer recommendations to the university's board. Still, the student senate still has an impact as it determines which clubs receive funding and which are authorized to be listed as official university clubs. A separate student senate exists for graduate students, known as GSS, which focuses on advocacy for grant procurement and graduate student travel costs to visit sites.

Athletics

The Lafayette–Lehigh most valuable player trophy plaque prior to the 144th meeting of The Rivalry in 2009; the series between the two colleges, which are 17 miles (27 km) away from each other in the Lehigh Valley, is the most-played rivalry in college football history with 158 meetings since 1884.

Philadelphia Eagles training camp at Lehigh in August 2009

Goodman Stadium at Lehigh in October 2007

As a member of the Patriot League, Lehigh competes in 25 different NCAA Division I sports. Lehigh's 2006 student-athlete graduation rate of 97% ranked 12th among all 326 NCAA Division I institutions. In 2002, it won the inaugural USA Today/NCAA Foundation Award for having the nation's top graduation rate of all Division I institutions.

Lehigh graduates have gone on to professional careers in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer, and the National Basketball Association as players, scouts, coaches, and owners. Lehigh graduates have competed in the Super Bowl and won gold medals for the U.S. at the Olympic Games. While it is not a school sport, a number of Lehigh alumni, including Roger Penske, Al Holbert, and John Fitch, went on to successful careers in auto racing.

Basketball

Lehigh's fifth trip to the NCAA tournament in 2012 proved to be their most notable to date, thanks to its first-round game as a #15 seed on March 16, 2012, against the #2 seed Duke Blue Devils. Despite being a heavy underdog, thanks to CJ McCollum's 30-point heroics, the Mountain Hawks pulled off the stunning upset, defeating the Blue Devils 75-70 and making it only the sixth time that a 15th seed had defeated a second seed.

Football

Lehigh University and nearby Lafayette College are rivals in sports. Since 1884, the two football teams have met over 150 times, making the game between the two programs, known as The Rivalry, the most played in the history of college football.

The rivalry between Lehigh and Lafayette is also the longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football; the teams have played annually since 1897. For the 150th meeting, the teams played before a sold-out Yankee Stadium in New York City.

Wrestling

The most storied athletic program at Lehigh is its wrestling team, which began in 1910. Over the past several decades, the Lehigh wrestling team has produced 158 All-Americans and had numerous squads finish with Top 20 NCAA national rankings, including finishing second in the nation in 1939. In 2008, the athletic department hired Pat Santoro, a two-time national champion and two-time winner of the EIWA Coach of the Year (2009, 2012) as Lehigh's head wrestling coach.

Home dual meets and tournaments take place in Leeman-Turner Arena at Grace Hall, on the university's main campus. Commonly known as "The Snake Pit", it has been the home of Lehigh wrestling since 1942. In 2013, Grace Hall was converted into the Caruso Wrestling Complex, including a visiting area and Lehigh's College Wrestling Wall of Fame.

In March 2017, Lehigh wrestler and Bethlehem native Darian Cruz won the NCAA Division I national wrestling tournament, becoming Lehigh's first national champion since Zach Rey, Lehigh's current assistant wrestling coach, won the title in the heavyweight division six years earlier, in 2011.

Fraternities and sororities

A large majority of Lehigh's social fraternities and sororities have their own university-owned houses; most of the fraternities and sororities are located along Upper and Lower Sayre Park Roads in a region known as "The Hill".

Lehigh has one of the highest levels of student participation in fraternities and sororities; approximately 34% of undergraduates are members of a fraternity or sorority. During new member education, Greek life membership rises to almost 45%. There are 13 fraternities, all of which are housed on campus, and eight sororities, all of which are housed on campus.

Lehigh's "golden age of fraternities" came in the mid-1980s when there where 36 fraternities on campus, all located on "The Hill". Sororities were notably forced to operate off campus. Many fraternities were forced by the school to disband in the 1990s. Many of their former houses were transitioned to sorority houses and a few were demolished to make way for more dorms. As of 2024, some of the houses on "The Hill" remain vacant.

Student traditions, newspaper

Lehigh students have several lasting traditions. Lehigh's school colors, brown and white, date back to 1874, and the school newspaper, The Brown and White, has been continuously published since 1894.

Lehigh's football game with Lafayette is one of the longest-running rivalries in the history of college football. The week leading up to the game features traditional festivities, including decorating fraternity houses, parties, rallies and the Marching 97 performing unexpectedly during classes the Friday before the game.

Notable people

Alumni

Notable alumni include:

• Pongpol Adireksarn, former deputy prime minister of Thailand
• Ali Al-Naimi, former Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources of Saudi Arabia
• Martin Baron, former editor of The Washington Post and The Boston Globe
• Lynn S. Beedle, National Academy of Engineering member, founder and director of the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, Frank P. Brown Medal recipient, John Fritz Medal recipient, and Deputy Office in Charge of the Nuclear testing at Bikini Atoll in 1946
• Stephen J. Benkovic, chemist and National Medal of Science recipient
• Harry J. Buncke, "father of microsurgery"
• Steve Chang, co-founder and former CEO of Trend Micro
• Stacey Cunningham, 67th president of the New York Stock Exchange
• Charlie Dent, former U.S. Representative
• Henry Sturgis Drinker, mechanical engineer for the Lehigh Valley Railroad and president of Lehigh University, 1905–1920
• Cathy Engelbert, WNBA commissioner and former CEO of Deloitte
• John W. Fisher, National Academy of Engineering member, founding director of the ATLSS Engineering Center, and Frank P. Brown Medal Laureate
• James Geurts, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Research, Development and Acquisition)
• Terry Hart, NASA astronaut
• Richard Hayne, co-founder of Urban Outfitters
• Lee Iacocca, former CEO of Chrysler
• Thomas R. Kline, lawyer, namesake and benefactor of the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law
• CJ McCollum, professional basketball player, New Orleans Pelicans
• Paul Marcincin, former mayor of Bethlehem and founder of Musikfest
• Thomas William McNamara, United States Navy rear admiral
• Joe Morgenstern, film critic and Pulitzer Prize winner
• James Ward Packard, founder of Packard Motor Car Company
• Roger Penske, founder of Penske Corporation and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient
• Austin Price, professional basketball player in the Israeli Premier Basketball League
• Jesse W. Reno, inventor of the escalator
• Stephanie Ruhle, MSNBC journalist
• Michael Smerconish, SiriusXM radio host and CNN television presenter
• John H. Tilelli Jr., U.S. Army General and U.S. Army Forces commander
• Wendell Weeks, CEO and chairman of Corning Inc and Amazon.com board director
• William Wiswesser, chemist and pioneer in chemical informatics
• Robert Serber, physicist on Manhattan Project
• Mason Black, pitcher for MLB San Francisco Giants

Faculty

Notable past or present faculty members include:

• Sirry Alang, professor of sociology and public health researcher
• Ferdinand P. Beer, the first chair of the Department of Mechanical engineering, professor of mechanical engineering from 1947 to 1984, wrote several textbooks influential to engineering education
• Helen M. Chan, New Jersey Zinc Professor of material science and engineering
• Michael Behe, professor of biochemistry, and intelligent design advocate
• Dan M. Frangopol, professor of structural engineering and inaugural holder of the Fazlur R. Khan Endowed Chair of Structural Engineering and Architecture
• Terry Hart, professor of mechanical engineering and former NASA astronaut
• Norman Melchert, Selfridge Professor of Philosophy from 1962 until his retirement in 1995
• Joanna B. Michlic, professor of Polish-Jewish history
• Francis J. Quirk, professor of art from 1950 to 1973
• Elsa Reichmanis, Perkin Medal recipient and Anderson Endowed Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
• Stephanie Powell Watts, professor of English and award-winning author

Honorary degrees

• Bill Cosby (issued in 1987 and rescinded in October 2015)
• Donald Trump (issued in 1988 and rescinded in January 2021)

See also

In Spanish: Universidad de Lehigh para niños

• Lehigh University Press