A Bold Vision for the Future

If you attended the 2023 Reunion Weekend or were able to listen to my State of the University address to alumni in June, you know that this month marked an exciting time for the Lehigh community as we launched our strategic plan, Inspiring the Future Makers.

The plan, developed by the campus community and endorsed by the Board of Trustees, outlines a bold vision for Lehigh over the next decade—one in which we embrace disruption and change, and reimagine how we educate, conduct research and work collaboratively—to create a better future, in a university committed to supporting an environment where everyone is valued and has the opportunity to thrive.

As alumni, and as part of our community of future makers, you know firsthand how special a place Lehigh is. At its core, the university is—and has always been—a place that inspires curiosity, creativity and collaboration. Through their research and entrepreneurship, our faculty, students, staff and alumni continually seek ways to address the complex challenges in our communities and around the world.

That approach is part of our DNA. Lehigh founder Asa Packer was a visionary and a risk-taker. When he established the university in 1865, he brought together a study of the classics and a study of technology to provide students with an education both purposeful and wide-ranging in its application, core interdisciplinary principles that were ahead of their time and are essential in today’s technology-driven world.

In the past year, through our strategic planning process, we came together to establish where we are going. University leadership and four groups of faculty and staff held in-person and virtual gatherings to engage the entire Lehigh community in an open dialogue that produced hundreds of ideas and thousands of comments. We also surveyed 76,000 Lehigh community members, including alumni, to gauge the initiatives that they felt mattered most.

The plan builds on the investments and work of the past decade, during which we expanded our reach, established a College of Health, opened a new Health, Science and Technology Building and a new Business Innovation Building, and made clear our commitment to support a diverse, inclusive and equitable community. The plan presents our aspirations and goals—to Make it New, Make a Difference and Make it Together—as Lehigh strives to lead in what we do best. Among our goals, we aim to redefine an interdisciplinary education, invest in strategic interdisciplinary research and reimagine the Mountaintop campus. We expect the plan to evolve as we implement the initiatives.

I am excited for Lehigh’s future. I invite you to visit the strategic plan website where you can read the full plan and watch a video explaining its key points.

Joseph J. Helble ’82
President of Lehigh University