Innovating & Adapting

Lehigh University has produced some of the world's greatest innovators, inventors and thinkers. A pioneering tradition has permeated our campus and our culture since our founding, and although the world has changed dramatically in the more than 150 years that have passed since, that spirit of discovery remains central to the Lehigh ethos.

We are all here to learn. And we understand that, in order to truly learn, we must first be willing to embrace the challenge of the unknown.

As we seek to answer the most pressing questions of our time, we must forge ahead into new territory, create novel pathways of discovery and test our assumptions. If one approach fails to lead us to new knowledge, we must try another, and then, if necessary, yet another—always evolving, always questioning, and always building on the contributions of the scholars who came before us.

We constantly adapt. We look at the needs of the world around us and work diligently to meet them. We expand the skills we already possess and strive to develop new ones.

We learn. And as we learn, we change.

Today, Lehigh stands on the precipice of a bold new future. In the fall of 2016 we outlined an ambitious initiative: a significant expansion of our faculty and our graduate and undergraduate student populations, an extensive plan to build cutting-edge new science and research facilities, and a commitment to leverage some of our greatest strengths to launch a new college of health. This bold step forward will, of course, bring substantial change to our campus, and that change will inevitably push us out of our comfort zone. But we also believe this evolution will help us build a stronger, more nimble, more dynamic Lehigh—a university fully capable of taking on the challenges of a still undefined and uncertain future.

In this issue of the Lehigh Research Review, you will read about just some of the research and scholarly activity that we believe is already changing the world for the better. We take great pride in our faculty's work, which embodies the creative and purposeful spirit of this university. We hope you enjoy learning from them just as much as we have.

Sincerely,

John Simon
President

Pat Farrell
Provost