The Lehigh campus saw a lot of change under the 13-year leadership of Robert A. Lamberton, the university’s third president. Both a gym (now Coppee Hall) and Chandler Chemistry Laboratory (now Chandler-Ullmann Hall) were built, the mechanical engineering department was established, the Mustard and Cheese put on its first dramatic presentation, and the Lehigh chapter of Phi Beta Kappa was founded.

The number of students grew dramatically, from 87 to about 600, and the faculty more than doubled to 35.

Lamberton, who served from 1880 to 1893, was a Lehigh trustee when he was asked to become president. Before stepping into office, he had practiced law and served as a colonel in the Union Army during the Civil War. He also was executor of Lehigh founder Asa Packer’s estate and a director of the Lehigh Railroad.  Lamberton died in office.