The Right Rev. William Bacon Stevens, fourth bishop of the Episcopal church of Pennsylvania, was the first president of Lehigh’s Board of Trustees. Stevens advised Asa Packer on the founding of Lehigh University and said later that Packer’s initial gift of $500,000 “was the noblest offering which an American had ever laid on the altar of learning.”

Stevens was instrumental in choosing Lehigh’s name and designing its official seal to represent the three elements of the Trinity. He also helped select Henry Coppée, his brother in-law, as Lehigh’s first president.

Born in Maine, Stevens studied medicine and served as Georgia’s state historian before he was ordained to the priesthood in 1844.

In accordance with the university’s bylaws, the Bishop of Pennsylvania, and later the Bishop of Bethlehem, served as presidents of Lehigh’s Board of Trustees until 1907, about a decade after Lehigh had ended its formal affiliation with the Episcopal Church.