Lehigh Opens Western Regional Office

Lehigh has launched a Western Regional Office in San Mateo, Calif., in an effort to extend educational opportunities for students and faculty, build research partnerships and further engage alumni and prospective students.

Headed by Vice Provost John W. Welty, the new office provides centralized access to downtown San Francisco, the Silicon Valley and the East Bay (Oakland, Berkeley).

“This is an important step in creating new opportunities for the Lehigh community and raising our visibility both nationally and internationally,” said Provost Patrick V. Farrell in a letter to the campus community.

In step with the new office, Lehigh has entered a partnership with the Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, a nonprofit designed to educate and connect the entrepreneurial community, as its exclusive Academic in Residence partner. Together, Lehigh and the Center have created Lehigh@NasdaqCenter, an environment in San Francisco that is uniquely suited to advance students’ entrepreneurial spirit and skill sets, in any discipline.

“We are thrilled to launch this institutional partnership with someone who shares the same drive to nurture and support the entrepreneurial pursuit of value creation in our society,” said Lehigh President John Simon, in announcing the partnership.

The collaboration was initiated by Lehigh’s Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation.

“This will be a university-wide collaboration with Nasdaq that taps into our shared ethos of innovation,” said Baker Institute Executive Director Lisa Getzler. “Lehigh@NasdaqCenter provides a collaborative platform for Lehigh students, faculty and alumni to engage in innovation, entrepreneurial thinking and problem solving as it relates to a wide variety of disciplines.”

The Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center was established in 2014 with support from the Nasdaq Educational Foundation. The mission of the Nasdaq Educational Foundation, Inc. is to promote and provide opportunities through collaborations and initiatives that support and deliver innovative educational programs and charitable activities.