Georgette Chapman Phillips, the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean of the College of Business, announced that she will retire June 30, 2024, after serving two five-year appointments as dean.
During her tenure, she oversaw a trans- formation of the College of Business, down to its name. Her work over the past decade brought enhancements to all areas of the undergraduate and graduate business curricula, robust research activity and overall growth and increased stature for the college, visibly brought to life in the Spring 2023 semester through the opening of the Business Innovation Building.
Since 2014, the number of business faculty grew from 79 to 97. She enhanced pathways toward faculty tenure and emphasized the importance of faculty retention within the college.
“The expansion of the faculty and the development of new facilities that have occurred in concert with her focus on excellence and her commitment to building deeper focus at the intersection of business and technology have positioned Lehigh Business extraordinarily well for the decades to come," President Joseph J. Helble ’82 said.
The College Evolves
Phillips is proud of the transformation of Lehigh Business to a “world-class business school.” Such evolution required shifts
to, as Phillips noted, becoming “a major research engine,” enhancing the undergrad- uate, graduate and executive education curricula and building a strong team by sup- porting and retaining talented faculty com- mitted to research, teaching and service.
“Her leadership has been indispensable in moving the College onto this positive tra- jectory,” Paul Brockman, senior associate dean and Perella Chair of Finance at Lehigh Business, said.
Phillips described inheriting a strong foundation on which to build. Using her real estate vernacular, “the house [had] good bones,” she said, reflecting on her start at Lehigh in 2014.
“I’m really proud of the fact that we have continuous improvement,” she said. “We are not idle.”
Phillips holds a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Bryn Mawr College.
