Lehigh University

Lehigh University

File:LUwithShield-CMYK.jpg
Motto	Homo minister et interpres naturae (Man, the servant and interpreter of nature)
Type	Private
Established	1865
Endowment	US$955 million
President	Dr. Alice P. Gast
Undergraduates	4,679
Postgraduates	2,069
Location	Bethlehem , PA , USA
Campus	Urban & Suburban,1,600 acres
Athletics	NCAA Division I 25 Varsity Teams
Mascot	Mountain Hawk
Website	Lehigh.edu

Lehigh University is a private, co-educational university located in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, in the Lehigh Valley region of the United States.

It was established in 1865 by Asa Packer as a four-year technical school. The university is comprised of 4,600 undergraduate students, 2,000 graduate students, almost 600 professors, and almost 1,500 administrative professionals.

The university has four colleges: the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, the College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business and Economics, and the College of Education. The College of Arts and Sciences is the largest college, and is home to roughly 42% percent of the university's students. This is followed by the College of Engineering at 33% and the College of Business and Economics with 25%. The College of Education, while very highly ranked nationally, is a graduate level program.

The colleges offer a variety of degrees, including Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, Master of Business Administration, Master of Engineering and Doctor of Philosophy.

Beginnings

Asa Packer

Asa Packer founded Lehigh University to provide a well-rounded education for young men that combined a liberal and scientific education with the necessary technical skills to increase the prosperity of the region. According to William Bacon Stevens, the first president of the board of trustees, Asa Packer's founding gift of $500,000 was the largest single endowment for a literary institution at that time.

Until a recession in the 1890's diminished the value of the Lehigh Valley Railroad stock, Packer's endowment allowed the institution to offer its education free of charge by competitive exam. This, plus its blend of engineering and liberal arts, attracted some of the nation's brightest students, many of whom went on to distinguished careers in industry and engineering. Their subsequent success established a legacy of excellence and alumni financial support that continues today.

History

Unlike other engineering schools of the day, Lehigh was never envisioned to be an “Institute of Technology” but always a University, combining both scientific and classical education for its students. One practical application of this approach to education could be seen in Lehigh’s requirement that all engineers and business students complete four semesters of English to be better able to communicate their ideas.

Initially there were five schools; four scientific (civil engineering, mechanical engineering, mining and metallurgy, and analytical chemistry) and one of general literature. Over time, additional areas of the arts and sciences were added and engineering curricula were both merged and expanded.

Based on the experience of Lehigh engineers who went into industry, a College of Business & Economics was added in 1910. Lehigh’s business curriculum was unique in that it combined both the abstract emphasis on Economics seen in the Ivy League with the practical skills of management seen in more common business administration degrees given by other universities. Combining business courses with engineering is also a common combination at Lehigh.

A similar emphasis on the well rounded graduate can be seen in Lehigh’s approach to education degrees. Lehigh’s well respected School of Education started as (and remains) a graduate only level program. This is based on the principle that you need to learn primary subject matter well before you can learn how to teach it to others. Thus future teachers at Lehigh often take a five year program earning both a Bachelors Degree in a specialized field and a Masters Degree in Education.

Today, others offer such interdisciplinary studies. But Lehigh was founded on the concept and continues providing a well-rounded education to produce “useful” graduates for the nation.

For additional information, see Lehigh University History

Campus

Lehigh's picturesque campus comprises three contiguous campuses encompassing 1,600 acres. It is built into the side of South Mountain in historic Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Altogether, Lehigh has 150 buildings with more than 4 million square feet of floor space. See Lehigh University Buildings.

Asa Packer Campus

Alumni Memorial Building

The Asa Packer Campus is the center of Lehigh's academic and cultural life. It adjoins the city of Bethlehem and encompasses 360 acres on the north slope of South Mountain. A highly wooded area, the Asa Packer Campus contains the original location of the university. Most of the buildings from its first century are of the Collegiate Gothic style, including Packer Hall, The University Center (1868). Beginning with the 1965 Centennial complex, newer buildings are of modern design using brick construction and are located east and north of the original cluster. Recent additions include Rauch Business Center (1990) and Zoellner Arts Center (1997), where Taylor Stadium once stood.

Packer Chapel

Lehigh's Asa Packer Campus is currently undergoing major renovations, including a new parking garage, renovation of Linderman Library, and several new walkways. A new Sciences Building is also planned. A September 11th memorial, including trees dedicated to each Lehigh alumnus killed in the attacks, was recently dedicated outside of Lehigh's Alumni Memorial Building.

Mountaintop Campus

Bought from Bethlehem Steel in 1986, the Mountaintop Campus contains 670 acres of woods and a 72 acre research site with 8 buildings. The Mountaintop Campus houses the College of Education; the departments of Biological Sciences and Chemical Engineering; programs in biochemistry, biotechnology, and bioengineering; the Advanced Technology for Large Structural Systems center; the Energy Research Center; and Ben Franklin incubator companies.

Murray H. Goodman Campus

Oriented towards athletics and located just south of South Mountain in the Saucon Valley, the 500-acre campus includes the 16,000 seat Goodman Stadium and other athletic faciltites, as well as the 6,000-seat Stabler Arena. The campus is named for major benefactor, Lehigh alumnus Murray H. Goodman.

The Arts

Based in the Zoellner Arts Center, Lehigh offers a great variety of performing and visual arts programs. In particular, it has many music programs, including its Marching 97, the Wind Ensemble and the Philharmonic orchestra. For more information, see Lehigh University Music. Lehigh also has a dedicated Humanities Center, which is an active center for discussions in philosophy, literature, religion studies, and other subjects. Lehigh also has a new program called "ArtsLehigh," oriented towards enhancing interest in the arts on campus. [1]

Athletics

Main article: Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Lehigh University Mountain Hawks logo

Lehigh University Mountain Hawks logo

Called the Engineers until 1995, Lehigh's teams are now officially known as the Mountain Hawks, although teams prior to 1995 may be referred to by the older title. They mostly compete in the Patriot League as part of NCAA's Division I.

Lehigh competes in 25 different NCAA Division I sports. Despite the rigor of its academic programs, its 2006 student-athlete graduation rate of 97% ranks 12th among all 326 NCAA Division I institutions. In 2002, it won the inaugural USA Today/NCAA Foundation Award for having the nation's top graduation rate of all Division I institutions. Lehigh student-athletes' success on the field and in the classroom has resulted in Lehigh being one of the 20 Division I schools included in U.S. News & World Report's "America's Best College Sports Programs". Lehigh graduates have gone on to professional careers in the National Football League, Major League Baseball, Major League Soccer,and the National Basketball Association as players, scouts, coaches and owners. Lehigh graduates have even competed in the Olympics and the Super Bowl.

The Rivalry

Main article: The Rivalry (college football)

Lehigh University is notable for their rivalry in sports and academics with nearby Lafayette College. Since 1884, the two football teams have met 142 times, making "The Rivalry" the most played in the history of college football. It is also the longest uninterrupted rivalry in college football, with the teams playing at least once every year since 1897. The Rivalry is considered one of the best in all of college athletics and ESPNU recently ranked The Rivalry #8 in their Top Ten College Football Rivalries. This game is sold out long before gameday each year.

Spirit & Traditions

Lehigh students have a strong sense of school pride and lasting traditions, many of which evolve from "The Rivalry" with nearby Lafayette College. Lehigh's school colors, brown and white, date back to 1874. The school newspaper of the same name was first published in 1894. Before then, the school newspaper was called "The Burr".

Following the death of Asa Packer in May 1879, the University established "Founder's Day" to be held in October to remember and recognize those have contributed to the success of the University. The event continues annually today.

Freshmen are traditionally inducted into the University in a convocation in Packer Chapel and informally welcomed at a Freshman-Alumni Rally where their class flag is given to them by the class from fifty years before.

Until the 1970s, freshmen wore small brown hats with their class numbers called "dinks" from the beginning of the fall semester until the Lafayette football game. The week leading up to the big game was full of festivities created to unite the students and fuel spirit. In one of these events, "The Pajama Parade", the freshman were led across the penny toll bridge in their pajamas singing "We Pay No Tolls Tonight" to the Moravian College dormitories where they would serenade the women. The week before the game still involves decoration of the Greek houses, a bonfire, parties, rallies and the Marching 97 performing unexpectedly during classes the Friday before the game.

While the riots to rip down the goal posts in Taylor Stadium are a thing of the past, many alumni return for the Lafayette game (which is usually sold out a month in advance) to root Lehigh on, to attend parties at their former living units, and to see old friends.

Rankings

US News & World Report

The 2007 edition of US News & World Report's Best Colleges ranked Lehigh in its "Most Selective" admissions category and # 33 overall in the "National Universities (Doctoral)" category. It ranked as follows among the 126 top-tier universities:

• 8th in Alumni Giving.
• 16th in Classes with fewer than 20 students.
• 28th in Best Value.
• 30th in Retention rate.
• 32nd in Student selectivity.
• 32nd in Graduation Rate.
• 36th in Percentage of Students in the top 10 percent of their high school class.
• 36th in Average Standardized Test Score.

The magazine also included Lehigh in its "America's Best College Sports Programs" list [2].

BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek ranked Lehigh's undergraduate College of Business & Economics 20th overall in the nation in 2007. The school was ranked 15th in academic quality, 8th in median starting salaries for its graduates and as one of the top 10 Accounting programs.

The Princeton Review

The 2007 edition of the The Princeton Review included Lehigh in the following qualitative categories:

• "Best Northeastern Colleges".

On its scale of 60 to 99, Princeton Review scored Lehigh as:

• Selectivity: 96
• Academics: 89
• Financial Aid: 88
• Quality of Life: 69

It was also ranked in the following social life categories [3]:

• # 9 in the "More to do on Campus" category.
• # 10 in the "Reefer Madness" category.
• # 17 in the "Party School" category.
• # 17 in the "Homogeneous Student Population" category.
• # 19 in the "Lots of Hard Liquor" category.

Note that the Princeton Review Quality of Life and social life rankings are based on self-volunteered (not random sampled) student opinions and vary considerably from year to year. Many question the scientific method behind them.

Faculty and class size

Faculty information

• 597 total instructional faculty; 432 full-time faculty
• Undergraduate student-to-faculty ratio: 9.9:1
• Percentage of faculty with Ph.D. or highest terminal degree in their field: 99%
• Percentage of male faculty: 74%

Faculty are required to have a minimum of four office hours per week.

See Lehigh University faculty for some notable past and present faculty members.

Class statistics

• Average class size 25-30 students
• Over 80% of classes have fewer than 30 students

See also

• Lehigh University Athletics
• Lehigh University Buildings
• Lehigh University History
• Lehigh University Music
• Lehigh University Trivia
• Lehigh university engineering highlights - significant contributions to the field of engineering by Lehigh students, faculty, and alumni.
• Lehigh University faculty
• List of Lehigh University alumni, including Lee Iacocca and Roger Penske.
• Coral Lehigh

External links

• Lehigh University Official Web Site.
• Lehigh University Athletics Web Site.
• Web Site of WLVR 91.3 Campus Radio Station.
• Web Site of The Brown and White (school newspaper).
• The Marching 97 Web Site.
• Zoellner Arts Center Web Site.

Photo gallery

• 
  Packard Laboratory, home of the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science
• 
  Rauch Business Center
• 
  Linderman Library (Before Renovation)
• 
  The Fairchild-Martindale Library
• 
  Memorial Walk
• 
  Packard Lab windows
• 
  Characteristic Street Lamp
• 
  Christmas Saucon Hall, home of the Department of Mathematics
• 
  Stairs Leading to Alumni Memorial Building
• A statue of founder Asa Packer, by the Admissions Building
  A statue of founder Asa Packer, by the Admissions Building
• 
  Above an entrance to Packer Memorial Church

References

• Looking Back; A Lehigh Scrapbook, by Rita M. Plotnicki, Lehigh University, 1991