14 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN The university was at a crossroads in 1979 when Salerni, Sametz and Ripa arrived looking for a place to share their artistic passions—Salerni and Sametz in music and Ripa in theater. Gans arrived a couple years later and Ussler soon after that, both in art and architecture. To put it into historical context, this was five years after Lehigh went coeducational, and the university was figuring out how to evolve from a male school seen as focused on engineering and business to one more broadly concerned with shaping well-rounded students of both sexes. They seized the moment. Says Sametz: “The then-dean who hired me told me Lehigh was an ‘infertile field for the arts,’ and he did not expect me to stay. I don’t know if that was a challenge, but I think we might have shown there was a lot here waiting to happen.” The number of choral groups quadrupled, providing abundant opportunities for students to perform and have their creations performed. A new Department of Theatre was created. The art department expanded to the Department of Art, Architecture and Design. And Lehigh’s commitment to the arts became engraved in stone in 1997 with the opening of Zoellner Arts Center, which gave the music and theater departments a beautiful home with abundant rehearsal and performance spaces, and included a first-class art gallery and repository for Lehigh’s art collection. Music, theater and visual art were always part of Lehigh’s tradition, but during the decades dominated by these professors, the arts became a draw for students of all disciplines and a powerful recruiting tool. Students soaked up opportunities and took their passion out into the world as Future Makers themselves. Some have become architects, artists, composers, directors or professors; others, engineers, lawyers and scientists with a rich engagement in their creative side. The five also found Lehigh to be a supportive laboratory to create their own art—operas, sculptures, choral works. As they prepare to retire—officially at the end of 2024 and spring of 2025—there’s talk of traveling, spending time with grandchildren and another chapter of artistic creation. There has been much reflection on, and much praise for, their contributions in both private and public demonstrations—concerts, dinners, exhibitions, video tributes and more. Here are snapshots of the careers of these influential professors. Former students surprised Paul Salerni, the NEH Distinguished Chair in the Humanities and professor of music, with a life-affirming tribute concert at Zoellner Arts Center Sept. 24, 2023. They performed original works and offered testimonials of affection and gratitude. Salerni—“Coach” to his students—was celebrated as a champion of the arts at Lehigh, as well as an indefatigable mentor and friend. The concert was organized by a team that included Sametz, who will be feted in spring, and Salerni’s sons—Domenic, a violinist with the Attacca Quartet, and Miles, a percussionist with the Philadelphia Ballet Orchestra. Salerni and Sametz arrived at Lehigh at the same time, embracing the challenge to build something lasting. With Salerni leading the instrumental activities and Sametz the choral, they guided the music department through an unprecedented period of growth. 218 years. That’s the astounding number of years that arts professors Paul Salerni, Steven Sametz, Augustine Ripa, Lucy Gans and Christine Ussler ’81 have spent cumulatively in the consequential task of teaching, mentoring and shaping the futures of Lehigh students over more than four decades. As individuals, each has made a significant impact in their discipline and, together, on Lehigh. Music PAUL SALERNI AND STEVEN SAMETZ Lucy Gans with Olivia Fitzgerald ’20 CHRISTA NEU
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