Advancing Lehigh's global initiative

I have long believed that science diplomacy is an effective way to build relationships between countries and I am honored to be a science envoy for the U.S. State Department. I look forward to visiting Central Asia and the Caucasus regions in this capacity in the coming months. This is a wonderful opportunity to further advance Lehigh’s global initiative.  I look forward to communicating with you and the Lehigh University community about my work over the course of the year.

Here on campus, I am pleased to note that Lehigh is continually enriched by the presence of our international students.  This year we have the largest number of international students we have ever had on campus with 226 undergraduates and 578 graduate students from abroad. We share two such stories in this issue. Gaby Abdelnour, a 1977 Lehigh graduate, was born in Lebanon and arrived at Lehigh never even having set foot on campus. He shares the important life lessons gained from living and learning in an entirely new culture.   

Lehigh senior Liz Martinez came to us from Mexico, unsure of the direction she wanted to go in life. She is now editor-in-chief of The Brown and White and looking forward to a career in journalism.

There are so many success stories like Gaby’s and Liz’s across the Lehigh University campus and across the world. I encourage you to share your own stories with the Office of International Affairs. We always enjoy hearing from alumni like you. I thank you for your continued support of Lehigh and I hope you enjoy the newsletter.

Alice P. Gast
President