15 Earning his accounting degree in the 1960s was just the beginning for Barry Haacke ’64. Lehigh helped lay the foundation for his international career in business, financial and project management, and strategic planning. Haacke worked for global banking, development, and consulting firms in the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait, but he never forgot his Lehigh roots. He passed away on August 12, 2021, at the age of 78, leaving an enduring legacy through an estate gift of $6 million to support the College of Business. From his student experience, Haacke knew that the intellectual rigor and practical, hands-on approach of the College of Business is what shapes bold innovators, astute problem-solvers, and global leaders. His philanthropy and planning will grant the college flexibility in the ways it prepares students to GO Beyond in whatever competitive industries they might enter in the future. Planned gifts have the power to shift steady progress into a surge of strategic momentum. Haacke’s generosity is being realized during an exciting moment for the College of Business. In September 2024, Lehigh officially installed Manoj K. Malhotra as the Kevin L. and Lisa A. Clayton Dean following the retirement of Georgette Chapman Phillips. Malhotra is excited to build on the college’s momentum. “I look forward to leading Lehigh Business on its upward ascent of being recognized as a highly regarded comprehensive center of business and education research with international prestige and stature,” he says. He envisions the College of Business as an “edifice with five pillars:” undergraduate programs, graduate programs, the Ph.D. program, faculty research and excellence, and executive education. Haacke’s gift will be pivotal to furthering his vision, which aligns with the university’s Inspiring the Future Makers strategy. Sixty years stand between Haacke’s graduating class and the current generation of students, but their paths intersect today because of their common experience in the College of Business. Both are generations of boundary breakers that encourage and facilitate learning beyond disciplines, borders, and classroom walls. Because of Haacke’s generous foresight, students 60 years from now will thrive in a future that feels the force of Lehigh business leaders. This is the power of planned giving. Its impact is transcendent.
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