74 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | IN REMEMBRANCE Tech entrepreneur Sanjay Shah ’89 MBA—a proud Lehigh alumnus, philanthropist, and founder and CEO of the Chicago-based global software company Vistex, Inc.—was tragically killed Jan. 18, 2024, in India, after an accident at Ramoji Film City in Hyderabad during a 25th-anniversary celebration for Vistex Asia Pacific. He was 55. Shah, whose generosity elevated executive education at Lehigh’s College of Business, founded Vistex, Inc., which grew into a worldwide operation with 20 global offices and 2,000-plus employees, in 1999. Its customers include some of the world’s biggest brands such as General Motors, Barilla and Bayer. Shah’s significant gifts to the university established the Vistex Institute for Executive Education at Lehigh and allowed the university and the College of Business to move forward in strengthening engagements with industry and business. Shah was the featured speaker in the Donald M. Gruhn '49 Distinguished Finance Speaker Series at Lehigh in October 2022. Lehigh President Joseph J. Helble ’82, who had presented Shah with an Outstanding Entrepreneur Award in 2021 for his high achievement as an alumnus in managing an enterprise, described Shah as “a visionary, competitive, warm, and down-to-earth leader who was immensely proud of his family, the business he built, and his Lehigh education.” He said Shah’s legacy extends beyond his professional accomplishments: “It encompasses the transformative contributions he made to our university.” The new home for the Vistex Institute at Lehigh opened a year ago upon completion of the Business Innovation Building. Shah had attended the opening celebration on March 3, 2023, and addressed his enduring support for executive education at the university. “I kind of started my journey in the United States at Lehigh,” he said in an interview marking the opening. “This was my first stop on my path to success, and so it means a lot to me to pay it forward.” Georgette Chapman Phillips, the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean of the College of Business, said Shah was “a true friend of Lehigh Business but also committed to making a difference in his native country of India through his funding of hospitals for the poor. Through the Vistex Institute for Executive Education, we hope to keep Sanjay's beacon of innovation and lifelong learning burning brightly.” Shah, who grew up in a tight-knit family in India, had come to the United States in the late 1980s specifically to attend Lehigh. He had studied commerce and languages as part of his undergraduate studies in India, but for his graduate studies, he sought out Lehigh, as it was also the alma mater of a business icon he had deeply admired, Lee Iacocca ’45. After earning his MBA, he worked in audit at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which had recruited him at Lehigh. Within six months though, he switched directions, taking a job with General Motors in Canada in operations and logistics, where he came to realize his passion for technology in business. “If you ask—what is the one thing you like doing the most?—it’s problem-solving,” he said in an interview with Lehigh Business seven years ago. “And technology helps me solve business problems. Technology is a means to an end. If you are confronted with [business] issues, there is technology out there to address them.” After General Motors, Shah joined SAP as it expanded into Chicago, then relocated to Germany with the company for about two years. Back in Chicago with SAP, he approached company officials with his niche ideas. They did not want to invest in those areas at the time, but told him that if he ever became successful, they would consider working with him. So Shah went off and built software and a software company to execute his vision. The philanthropic arm of the company, Vistex Foundation, provides resources to those in need. It works primarily in the areas of health, education and micro lending, especially in some of the more challenging areas of the world. “A VISIONARY, COMPETITIVE, WARM, AND DOWNTO-EARTH LEADER WHO WAS IMMENSELY PROUD OF HIS FAMILY, THE BUSINESS HE BUILT, AND HIS LEHIGH EDUCATION.” —Lehigh President Joseph J. Helble ’82 A Visionary Leader Sanjay Shah’s generosity elevated executive education at Lehigh’s College of Business. REMEMBERING Sanjay Shah ’89 MBA
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