Update on Lehigh's West Coast Initiatives

Dear Members of the Campus Community,

Over the past several months, we have pushed forward on a series of initiatives aimed at expanding Lehigh’s presence and impact on the West Coast. This ongoing expansion is already serving our university well, and in the months and years to come, we are confident our engagement in the region will help support our work in the areas of admissions, research, entrepreneurship and more.

Last September, we opened Lehigh’s Western Regional Office (WRO) in San Mateo, California, with the aim of engaging more directly with prospective students, fostering new industry partnerships, and better connecting with our West Coast alumni. In January, we took another big step forward with the opening of the Lehigh@NasdaqCenter (L@NC) in San Francisco. Launched in partnership with the nonprofit Nasdaq Entrepreneurial Center, the center will create opportunities for Lehigh faculty and students in and around the Silicon Valley, while bolstering our reputation as a global leader in education, research and entrepreneurship.

We are now excited to announce two key appointments that will further support our West Coast efforts.

Effective July 15, Samantha Dewalt will assume her new role as the inaugural Managing Director at the L@NC. In this position, Sam will provide strategic and operational leadership for the center and affiliated partnerships, collaborate with key university stakeholders to develop innovative programming and work to establish L@NC as a powerful platform of engagement with Lehigh students, faculty, alumni and external partners. Sam has ably served Lehigh as Senior Director of Industry Engagement in the Office of Economic Engagement since 2015, and we know she will continue to excel in this new leadership position.

Sam’s appointment comes just weeks after we welcomed Wendy Fong to the WRO as our new Director of Industrial Engagement. As a critically important addition to our West Coast team, Wendy engages with industry partners, national laboratories and leading research centers in pursuit of partnerships that can enrich the Lehigh experience for both faculty and students. Wendy comes to Lehigh from Carnegie Mellon University, where she served as Senior Strategic Programs Manager for the university’s Silicon Valley campus. We are confident her extensive industry connections and deep well of knowledge in the world of technology will help us more firmly establish the Lehigh brand throughout the region.

Our continued western growth builds on the success of Lehigh’s existing West Coast programs, most notably LehighSiliconValley (LSV), a flagship program of the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity & Innovation, which immerses students in the rich entrepreneurial environment of the Silicon Valley startup ecosystem. The Lehigh@NasdaqCenter partnership was forged as a result of LSV’s success.  Since the opening on January 1, 2017, Lisa Getzler, Executive Director of the Baker Institute, has taken the lead for Lehigh at the Center in San Francisco, building proof of concept programming and rolling out the first phase of programs in the L@NC partnership.  The Baker Institute will continue to lead on the entrepreneurship programming for L@NC and Lisa will hold a seat on the Nasdaq Center’s Board of Directors in addition to her responsibilities with the Baker Institute.

We are thrilled about the great possibilities that our West Coast initiatives present, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for Lehigh students, faculty, staff and alumni on both coasts, as well as everywhere in between.

Sincerely,

John Simon, President

Pat Farrell, Provost