One notable alum has a unique legacy: a 50,000-acre lake.

William Spencer Murray graduated from Lehigh in 1895 with a degree in electrical engineering. Murray began as an apprentice and rose up the ranks at the Westinghouse Electric plant in East Pittsburgh, Pa. Murray later served as chief engineer for the electrification of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. He held leadership positions at the Housatonic Power Co. in Connecticut and the Connecticut Light & Power Co.

In 1930, Murray and his business partner completed the construction of a dam on the Saluda River in South Carolina. The Saluda Dam, designed to provide flood control and supply hydroelectric power to the state, was the world’s largest earthen dam at the time.

The dam also created what was then the world’s largest man-made lake: Lake Murray, which continues to serve the region as a recreational attraction and source of hydroelectric power.