On Oct. 27, Lehigh’s 13th university president Alice P. Gast died after a four-year battle with pancreatic cancer, according to an email sent out by Lehigh President Joseph Helble yesterday.
Gast served as the first woman president for the university from 2006-14. During her tenure, she oversaw the $500 million capital campaign to build Stabler Campus.
After working for Lehigh, Gast became president of Imperial College London until 2022, according to a story from Lehigh News.
Gast was born in Houston, Texas on May 28, 1965. She earned her bachelor’s in chemical engineering from the University of Southern California and her master’s and Ph.D. from Princeton University.
Prior to Gast’s arrival at Lehigh, she taught at Stanford University and then served as vice provost for research and associate provost for Massachusetts Institute for Technology.
Helble wrote in the email that Gast “advanced the university’s academic and research profile and strengthened global engagement. Her leadership paved the way for advancements and helped shape the future of Lehigh.”
Under Gast’s leadership, she worked with Lee Iaccoca ‘45 to create the Iacocca International Internship Program and was a “driving force behind projects such as the STEPS building,” according to Lehigh News.
Comment Policy
Comments posted to The Brown and White website are reviewed by a moderator before being approved. Incendiary speech or harassing language, including comments targeted at individuals, may be deemed unacceptable and not published. Spam and other soliciting will also be declined.
The Brown and White also reserves the right to refuse the publication of entirely anonymous comments.