Bidding adieu to President Alice Gast

Staff members turned out Friday afternoon to bid a fond farewell to President Alice P. Gast, as she leaves Lehigh and begins her new role as president of Imperial College London.

Gast, the university’s 13th president, greeted guests as they arrived to the President’s House on campus for the 90-minute reception.

“We’re going to miss you. Thank you very much for everything,” one visitor told her, echoing the sentiments of other staff members who joined in the farewell.

Guests were invited to visit the Library and take one or two books that interested them. Most staffers took Gast up on the offer, browsing the shelves before making their selections.

 

Gast seemed pleased that guests wanted the books, telling a visitor: “You want them to be adopted out to a good home.”

Staff chatted with Gast, and they mingled in the first-floor rooms of the President’s House, enjoying drinks, crudités and cheese and dips.

Faculty were invited to the President’s House in April for a similar reception.

Gast steps down July 31. In her eight years at Lehigh, Gast pushed the university forward in several key areas, including academic excellence and the university’s global impact.


Photos by Stephanie Veto