Verizon grant to help fund Martindale Scholars trip to Italy

The budding partnership between Verizon and Lehigh University was celebrated by students, faculty, and administrators associated with the Martindale Center at a recent luncheon held in the Zoellner Arts Center.

Thanks to a $47,000 contribution from Verizon International Foundation, 12 Martindale Scholars will travel to Italy this summer to learn more about that country's economy. Verizon's contribution will cover travel expenses for the eleven-day trip.

As a telecommunications leader with a presence in 40 countries, Verizon is committed to supporting educational programs that increase an understanding of global and economic issues, said Verizon corporate executive Tom Bartlett ‘80. On behalf of Verizon, I congratulate these students for their academic accomplishments.

Since it was founded in 1980, the Martindale Center for the Study of Private Enterprise has carefully selected top Lehigh students to explore global business and economic issues beyond the scope of classroom study. The program takes students on a trip to a foreign country where they study a component of that country's economy in depth.

The Martindale program is one of our polished gems, said Lehigh President Gregory Farrington. If the Martindale program didn’t exist, we’d have to work very hard to create it.

Added longtime supporter of the Martindale Center, Dirk Junge '71, It’s always nice when corporate America finds a way to contribute to education in a tangible way.

Students write papers based on their own research of a pressing issue in the observed country, which are published annually in Perspectives on Business and Economics, the undergraduate journal of the Martindale Center. Members of the upcoming Italy trip took the luncheon as an opportunity to discuss their papers with members of last year’s trip to Hong Kong.

In the past, students have visited Mexico, Canada, Argentina, France, Germany, England, the Czech Republic, Chile, Austria, Switzerland, Ireland and Hong Kong in trips largely funded by former Martindale Scholars.