Spring Bulletin 2022

L E H I GH B U L L E T I N S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 Scott Willoughby ’89 helped lead development of the most powerful and complex space telescope ever launched

2 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N A SPRING AWAKENING The Lehigh University Philharmonic rehearses in late February for its performance of Spring Awakening at the Zoellner Arts Center. Led by Director Eugene Albulescu, right, the group delighted with lively offerings of orchestral favorites, including Paul Hindemith’s Symphonic Metamorphosis on a Theme by Carl Maria von Weber. Photo by Christa Neu

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2 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N U P F R O N T Sincerely, Mary Ellen Alu, Editor Amid all the bleak pandemic and political news at the start of winter came a bit of cheer— the long-awaited launch of the James Webb Space Telescope from Kourou, French Guiana. I sat with friends as we held our collective breath on Dec. 25 and watched the beginning of the Webb telescope’s million-mile journey into space, knowing that Lehigh alumnus Scott Willoughby ’89 had a central role in the powerful telescope’s design and construction. I wasn’t alone in my interest—the Webb launch was one of the top trending topics on social media that day. The Webb telescope is a marvel— much more powerful than its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope, and capable of seeing some 14 billion light years away, back to when the first stars and galaxies were forming in the universe. It is expected to take its first images in early June. I had the privilege of interviewing Willoughby by Zoom in the weeks after the Webb telescope’s launch (page 20), which he described in vivid detail. He also reflected on the Webb telescope’s full deployment in space, the complexity of the $10 billion project and what it could mean for humankind. As significant as the Webb telescope is, so too is Willoughby’s personal journey, from a humble upbringing in East Rutherford, N.J., to a course of study in electrical engineering at Lehigh, to a career pinnacle at Northrop Grumman. His four years at Lehigh, he says, “really formedme.” Willoughby speaks about the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to solving problems and creating something as consequential as the Webb telescope—which brings me to another very significant story in this issue of the Bulletin, the opening of Lehigh’sHealth, Science and Technology (HST) building. Writer Christina Tatu takes you inside the HST building and the ongoing research there. Its open-concept labs allow faculty across disciplines to work side-by-side on interdisciplinary projects. The largest structure Lehigh has ever built, the HST building “quite literally, eliminates barriers to the kind of collaboration we think is critical for advancing research areas that are going to be a focus for Lehigh, for the country and, to some extent, the world,” says Provost Nathan Urban. You can take an in-depth look inside the HST building on page 26. We hope you enjoy this issue of the Bulletin, where you will also read about Mike Zisman ’70, who says an encounter with chemical and bioengineering Professor William L. Luyben as a student at Lehigh changed his life. Zisman and his wife, Linda Gamble, recently made a $2.5 million gift to endow a faculty chair in Luyben’s honor. Willoughby also remembered electrical engineering Professor Karl H. Norian and the impact Norian made on him. Were you inspired by a Lehigh professor? Send us your story. Reaching for the Stars Were you inspired by a Lehigh professor? Share your thoughts by sending a letter to the editor. It can be sent via snail mail to the address at right, or via email to maa614@lehigh.edu. STAFF EDITOR Mary Ellen Alu ASSOCIATE EDITOR Stephen Gross STAFF WRITER Christina Tatu CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Christine Fennessy, Lori Friedman, Kelly Hochbein, Katie Kackenmeister, Justin Lafleur, Audrey McSain, Cynthia Tintorri, Amy White CREATIVE DIRECTOR Kurt Hansen ART DIRECTOR Beth Murphy SENIOR DESIGNER Kate Cassidy PHOTOGRAPHY Christa Neu, Douglas Benedict VIDEOGRAPHER Stephanie Veto BUSINESS SUPPORT Traci Mindler CLASS NOTES AND REMEMBRANCES (610) 758-3675 classnotes@lehigh.edu SUBSCRIBERS For address changes, send the mailing label, along with your new address, to: Alumni Records/Lehigh University 306 South New St. – Suite 500 Bethlehem, PA 18015 (866) 517-1552 Email: askrecords@lehigh.edu CONTACT US Lehigh University Communications and Public Affairs 301 Broadway, 4th floor – Suite 400 Bethlehem, PA 18015 (610) 758-4487 Email: communications@lehigh.edu LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN Vol. 107, No. 1, Spring 2022 Published three times a year by the Lehigh University Communications and Public Affairs Office, in cooperation with the Lehigh University Alumni Association Inc.

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 3 U P F R O N T DEPARTMENTS 2 FROM THE EDITOR 4 FROM THE PRESIDENT ON CAMPUS 5 Charting a Path Forward 6 $2.5 Million Endowment to Create Chemical Engineering Chair 7 Gusmano Named Ethics Director 8 Solar Powered 9 FOUR QUESTIONS WITH: Joan Lunden 10 Vincent Forlenza ’75 Named New Board Chair RESEARCH 11 Visualizing Protease Activity to Better Understand Cancer 12 Understanding Earth’s First Three Billion Years 13 Lehigh Alum Wins Wolf Prize in Physics CULTURE 14 Tiny House, Big Adventure 16 EXHIBITION: Young, Gifted and Black ATHLETICS 17 Africa Business Club Creates Connections 18 PROFILE: Teasha McKoy ’22 NOTES 39 Going Digital 42 FROM THE AVP FOR ALUMNI RELATIONS 43 LEHIGH DISPATCH 71 IN REMEMBRANCE OBITS 73 Betzalel Avitzur 76 Dmitri Vezenov 79 James E. Sturm END PAPER 80 DESIGN: Benches as Art ON THE COVER: Scott Willoughby ’89 at Northrop Grumman with a model of the James Webb Space Telescope. Photo by John McGillen 20 Mission: Possible Scott Willoughby ’89 helped lead development of the most powerful and complex space telescope ever launched, the James Webb Space Telescope. As told to Mary Ellen Alu and Christine Fennessy 26 A New Era of Research Lehigh opens its Health, Science and Technology Building, a revolutionary new space for interdisciplinary collaboration. It is the largest structure Lehigh has ever built. By Christina Tatu 34 Not Just a Women’s Issue The Baker Institute is boosting entrepreneurship among a diverse student population through R.I.S.E. By Christina Tatu C H R I S T A N E U Sareena Karim ’22 launched Foli-Q, a custom hair care company. Read about the Baker Institute’s initiative to encourage entreneurship among women and diverse student groups on page 34.

4 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N U P F R O N T With the spring semester well underway, I’ve been impressed with all we’ve been able to accomplish as a community. We’ve moved closer to a more typical pre-COVID academic year, with 1,092 in-person undergraduate course sections, 213 in-person graduate course sections and thousands of attendees, collectively, at our sporting events, art shows and performances. This semester, faculty offered at least 59 new courses on topics that reflect their creativity and desire to provide contemporary content to students. As we chart the university’s path forward over the next decade, we are embarking on a strategic planning effort being led by Provost Nathan Urban and Vice President of Strategic Planning Christine “Chris” Cook. Lehigh last published its strategic plan in 2009, and we will start there. What did we say we would do? What did we accomplish? What did we not make progress on, and why?We need to take an accounting of our efforts before we can start the actual work on a new plan. While I want us to be aspirational in our goals, I also want our strategic plan to be operational. I will be asking our teams to develop a plan that has tangible milestones, markers and goals so that we can measure our progress along the way and know what it is that we are aiming for as a community. We are putting working groups in place, with the objective of beginning and completing the process in the 2022–2023 academic year. Sincebeginningmy tenure, Ihave been reflecting on the importance of Lehigh as a residential university—onwhatwe do andmust provide to our students. Our goal is to educate community-minded, productive, collaborative, responsible individuals. I am proud of our efforts in that regard as we prepare our students to enter the workforce and to become important contributors in their respective fields and in their communities. Lehigh is an extraordinary place. Our community has a roll-up-the-sleeves, get-the-job-done attitude. I find that refreshing—and inspiring. I hope that I will have had the opportunity to meet and talk with many of you on my cross-country alumni tours, and perhaps many of you have already joined me on my “Pace the Prez” runs in the places I have visited. I thank you for your continued support. Examining Goals, Assessing Progress Sincerely, Joseph J. Helble ’82, President President Joseph J. Helble ’82 speaks with alumni in Palm Beach, Fla., in February. ON THE ROAD From the top, Lehigh President Joseph Helble meets with alumni and their families in Naples, Florida; Helble talks with students at the Women in Business Conference at Mountaintop; a Meet the President event is held on campus; and Helble is joined by Mike Garzillo ’16 and Danielle Goffredo Moyer ’19G on a #PaceThePrez run in Florida.

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 5 ON CAMPU S N E W S F R O M L E H I G H Charting a Path Forward Lehigh’s strategic planning process to launch by summer In an effort to chart the university’s path for the next decade, Lehigh plans to update and review its strategic plan, last published in 2009. Provost NathanUrbanwill lead the process, which will formally launch by summer, and will work closely with the strategic planning team. Christine “Chris” Cook, who has joined Lehigh as vice president of strategic planning and initiatives, will work with Urban and the team to direct all aspects of the process, including facilitating input and engagement from across the university and reviewing Lehigh’s progress since the last plan. Before joining Lehigh, Cook served as vice provost for strategic initiatives and resource planning at Dartmouth College. Patricia Mann in the Office of the Provost is transitioning fromher current role to serve as director of administration on the team. In a message to the Lehigh community, Lehigh President Joseph Helble ’82 said that, since beginning his tenure, he has been meeting formally and informally with as many groups and individuals across the university as he can, including students, faculty, staff and alumni. He said the conversations have affirmed for him a shared sense of pride for Lehigh and the collective desire for the university to continue to improve, grow, strive and evolve. Lehigh’s last strategic plan articulated priorities that included the establishment of broad research goals, investments in faculty, staff, and the student experience, and an expansion of Lehigh’s partnership with the surrounding community. “Our strategic planning process this year,” Helble said, “will provide an opportunity to re-examine those goals, assess our progress against them, and chart Lehigh’s path for the coming decade, setting priorities for our educational and research mission and our commitment to supporting a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive community.” D O U G L A S B E N E D I C T / A C A D E M I C I M A G E

6 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N C A M P U S $2.5 Million Endowment to Create Chemical Engineering Chair Mike Zisman ’70 honors professor who changed his life Byhis ownadmission,Mike Zisman ’70was not a particularly good student during his first two years at Lehigh. An encounter with chemical and bioengineering Professor William L. Luyben changed all that. “I remember how Professor Luyben pulled me aside one day and said, basically, ‘Shape up or ship out,’ ” recalled Zisman. “It changed my life—I just woke up and thought, ‘Well, maybe I should try studying. Maybe that would make a difference.’ And I made the dean’s list after that.” Grateful for the impact that Luyben had on his life, Zisman, founder and co-CEO of Golf Genius Software, and his wife, Linda Gamble, recently made a $2.5 million gift to endow a faculty chair in honor of Luyben, who was his chemical and biomolecular engineering professor and who has been a Lehigh faculty member since 1967. The chair will initially be called the Zisman Family Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. Upon Luyben’s future retirement from Lehigh, it will be known as the William L. Luyben Chair, with the chairholder embodying the qualities of Luyben as “an exemplary teacher, mentor and distinguished researcher.” Luyben further impacted Zisman’s life and career trajectory by introducing his students to the use of computers for simulation. “I loved doing those simulations,” Zisman recalled. “It helped me realize that I really loved computer programming.” After graduating with a bachelor of science in chemical engineering and working briefly at DuPont, Zisman went on to earn a master’s in systems engineering and a doctorate in decisions sciences from the University of Pennsylvania. He was a faculty member at the Sloan School of Management at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) until 1979, when he founded Soft-Switch, a company that, in a pre-internet era, allowed users of different computer brands the ground-breaking ability to email each other. Professor William L. Luyben (left) with Mike Zisman ’70. “PROFESSOR LUYBEN HAD MORE IMPACT ON MY LIFE THAN ANYBODY. AND I’M GRATEFUL.” —MIKE ZISMAN ’70 J O H N K I S H I V

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 7 C A M P U S C H R I S T A N E U Michael Gusmano, professor and associate dean for academic programs in the College of Health, has been named director of Lehigh’s Center for Ethics. Gusmano, who arrived at Lehigh in Fall 2021, plans to collaborate with members of the Lehigh community who have been working with the center to leverage existing resources and increase participation across the university. He envisions a forum through which faculty and students can present their work in ethics to broader audiences and hear from individuals outside of Lehigh from a variety of fields dealing with ethical issues. The Peter S. Hagerman ’61 Lecture Series remains a priority, as does collaboration with faculty developing and teaching ethics courses. The center will continue to offer grant opportunities for research and programs related to ethics. “The study of ethics really is about systematically thinking about the way the world ought to be and helping people develop the kinds of skills to approach those questions and to recognize that it’s about developing arguments around those kinds of ethical claims, and not merely viewing this as an assertion of opinion or the triumph of a particular ideological or religious doctrine. This is about a sort of lifelong curiosity,” Gusmano says. Gusmano received his Ph.D. in political science from the University of Maryland College Park and an M.A. in public policy from the State University of New York at Albany. In addition, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the RobertWood Johnson Foundation Scholars in Health Policy program at Yale University. He most recently served as director of the health systems and policy concentration at the Rutgers University School of Public Health. Gusmano serves as co-director of the World Cities Project and has served as a research scholar at the Hastings Center, the world’s premier bioethics research institute, since 2010. Founded in 2018, the center has been housed in the College of Arts and Sciences but will now be an initiative of the Office of the Provost. The center was created through the support of the Class of 1961 Endowed Fund for the Teaching of Ethical Decision-Making, established by Mike Hoben ’61, Paul Smith ’61, the late Joe King ’61, and the late Peter Hagerman ’61 to ensure the seamless incorporation of ethics education into the Lehigh experience.—Kelly Hochbein Gusmano Named Ethics Director The Center for Ethics will now be an initiative of the Office of the Provost Soft-Switch was acquired by LotusDevelopmentCorporation in 1994, with Zisman serving as CEO. A year later, IBM acquired Lotus, and Zisman stayed on until his retirement in 2004 as vice president of corporate strategy. In 2009 he founded Golf Genius, a cloud-based software system that helps golf professionals manage leagues, tournaments and events. “I thank Mike and the Zisman family for this honor,” Luyben said. “I like the expression, ‘I touch the future—I teach.’ I think that’s applicable in Mike’s case. I also want to thank Lehigh for providing the faculty with students we can challenge and encourage.” President Joseph Helble, himself a graduate of Lehigh’s chemical engineering program and former student of Luyben’s, thanked Zisman for his incredible philanthropy and said the gift in honor of Luyben is proof that “what the faculty and staff do at Lehigh makes a huge difference in shaping the future.” “We are grateful to Mike ZismanandLinda for this generous, impactful gift for the university,” said Nathan Urban, provost and senior vice president for academic affairs. “Chairs such as this one are incredibly important to us as a university, to attract and retain the very best faculty, to give them the kind of support and resources that they need to carry forth and excel in Lehigh’s research and teaching missions.” A former Lehigh trustee, Zisman served on numerous committees during his tenure. Hewas part of the Rossin College Advisory Council and was inducted into Leadership Plaza in 2009. “I often tell people I’m a product of my education,” Zisman said. “I got an incredible grounding at Lehigh and a great foundation in analytical, critical thinking. But I think Professor Luyben had more impact on my life than anybody. And I’m grateful.”—Cynthia Tintorri

8 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N C A M P U S HUNGRY HAWKS A newmobile app and web interface aims to reduce food waste and food insecurity on the Lehigh campus by alerting students and others as to where they can pick up leftover food from Lehigh- catered campus events. Though the Lehigh community previously used group text messaging to informally spread the word about free leftover food, the Hungry Hawks app will provide a more secure and efficient platform for distributing the information. Computer science and business students Connor Greene ’22, Dave Jha ’22 and Joshua Yang ’22, recognizing problems with the informal group text messaging system, first approached the Sustainability Office in early 2020 with the idea. “Every day, departments, offices and clubs hold events and meetings across campus with Lehigh-catered food,” said Katharine Targett Gross, who served as sustainability officer. “Often, when these events and meetings end, there is leftover food that gets thrown away. Our goal is to end this wasteful cycle at Lehigh.” The core team consisted of CSB students Greene, Jha and Yang, as well as Targett Gross and Audrey McSain from the Office of Sustainability, Ashley Ryan from Library & Technology Services, and Claudine Sidney from Lehigh Catering.—Audrey McSain Solar Powered By generating an estimated annual energy output of 5,200 MWh/year, the proposed Saucon Valley Solar project will provide 90% of the Goodman Campus’s electricity. Lehigh has partnered with EDF Renewables to develop and install a solar array on a portion of university-owned land located on the Goodman Campus. The proposed Saucon Valley Solar project is intended to supply 90% of the electrical power needs of the Goodman Campus, which includes the majority of the university’s athletic and event facilities, utilized by students, staff, faculty and the community. The project, currently in its design and development phase, is in line with the university’s commitments to environmental sustainability and climate action as outlined in its Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030. Lehigh aims to offset 100% of Lehigh’s electricity consumption with renewable energy through a combination of off-site and on-site projects, energy conservation and Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs). The proposed Saucon Valley Solar project is a 2.625 megawatt (MW) AC solar photovoltaic project located just south of Legacy Park and opposite the Lewis Indoor Tennis Center. EDF Renewables, a market-leading independent power producer and service provider with 35 years of experience, with assistance from Bohler Engineering and CustomerFirst Renewables, will develop and design a system that will exist in harmony with the rest of the Lehigh Goodman Campus and the surrounding community. Myles Burnsed, vice president, Strategic Development, stated, “EDF Renewables is proud to partner with Lehigh University to deliver a solar solution in support of their sustainability ambitions that also provides cost-effective clean energy.” The project will utilize single axis tracker technology and bifacial solar technology to optimally capture solar energy. The facility will generate an estimated annual energy output of 5,200MWh, which is enough to provide 90%of the Goodman Campus’s electricity. “This solar array will not only have a positive impact on our campus operations and reduce Lehigh’s carbon footprint in line with Lehigh’s Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030, but it will also have a significant impact on academics and research,” saidKatharineTargettGross,whoservedasSustainabilityOfficer inLehigh’sOffice of Sustainability. “We have incorporated educational and research opportunities into the project including summer internships, guest lectures, guided tours of the site, access to a portal that shows live and historical weather and production data, and an annual career mentoring session.” Thesitewaschosenbothbecause italignswellwithLehigh’s long-termplanning goals and because of its location relative to existing transmission infrastructure. In order to supplement the existing electrical power, the array needs to tie into a primary feed to campus.—Lori Friedman

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 9 FOUR QUESTIONS WITH Joan Lunden tunity to interview medical experts and disseminate health information. However, it was my cancer diagnosis that provided me the unusual opportunity to carry on my dad’s legacy and make a difference in women’s health. I’ve shared my journey and everything I’ve learned along the way, giving countless speeches, traveling to Washington to advocate for changes in health policy, and helping to raise funds for research. My diagnosis turned out to truly be a gift in my life. Happily, I am now cancer free. 2 How has the pandemic impacted healthcare? Healthcare in America and around the world has been forever changed. For many people there has always been a reluctance to interface with the medical community, and the global lockdown seemingly exacerbated that. Then too, I think we are driven by our habits, and we have gotten out of the habit of going for health checkups. This has spelled trouble for many patients. A number of doctors whom I’ve recently interviewed have told me many of their patients missed their annual checkups, colonoscopies and mammograms and may sadly have to contend with late-diagnosed disease. One last troubling aspect of the pandemic is the onslaught of misinformation and the distrust in doctors and scientists that has come out of the political divide in the country. 3 The boom in telehealth has changed how people interact with their healthcare providers. What is your perspective on that? Telehealth has been laying its foundation with most major medical institutions for several years. The plan had been to roll out over the coming two to three years. However, when the world locked down, telehealth became the only game in town overnight. It has now become so entrenched that it’s certainly here to stay. Only time will tell if a patient’s outcomes will be negatively affected as telehealth replaces in-person appointments. 4 What are the most serious global issues today that could impact the future of public health? Climate change. Sadly, we’ve known for several decades that major environmental changes were needed to safeguard our planet. However, climate change became a political football, funded by the fossil fuel industry. There are still people who contend that climate change is a hoax despite the clear scientific evidence. We need to stop debating the obvious and create a global effort to make changes while we still have a chance. As the earth continues to warm, the oceans continue to rise and ice plates melt, we will continue to experience heat waves, intense storms and fires. As conditions become dire in certain locations, we will experience massive population movement, and with that will come societal and political unrest. 1 You became a serious health advocate after your breast cancer diagnosis in 2014. How did that experience influence your perspective of public health? My cancer diagnosis changed the trajectory of my life dramatically. I was aware of the fight against cancer from a very young age since my father was a cancer surgeon. I heard about the fight against cancer every day, not only from my dad, but from his patients... How could I want to be anything other than a doctor? My dad was also an avid private pilot and would often fly around the country giving speeches at cancer conferences. While flying home from one of those conferences, he crashed and was killed at 51 years old. I couldn’t wait to work in a local hospital my dad helped found. That job the summer before college taught me that stitches and scalpels would not be a part of my future. I feel fortunate my career as a journalist has given me the opporC A M P U S Journalist, author and TV host Joan Lunden is a distinguished scholar-in- residence in the College of Health, where she teaches Health, Government and the Media

1 0 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N C A M P U S ECOCOIN PROGRAM Buying a new Lehigh cap or sweatshirt at the university’s bookstore can now help support student organizations on campus, thanks to a partnership between the Office of Sustainability and the Lehigh Bookstore. The EcoCoin Program, which began in January, awards customers with an “EcoCoin” each time they decline a single-use plastic bag whenmaking a purchase at the bookstore. Customers then choose which student organization they’d like to support by depositing the coin in a corresponding collection bin. EcoCoins have monetary value and the funds raised will be donated to the selected organizations. Each year, two organizations will be selected and groups cannot be selected in consecutive years. The EcoRep Leadership Program and Outing Club were selected for the 2022 calendar year by members of the Undergraduate Student Senate and Lehigh Sustainability Council, after being nominated by the student body. The EcoCoin Program is tied to one of the goals in Lehigh’s Sustainability Strategic Plan 2030: to develop an incentive program at the bookstore to encourage customers to opt-out of single-use plastic bags by 2022 and eliminate single-use plastic bags at the bookstore by 2025. Vincent Forlenza ’75 Named New Board Chair He succeeds Kevin Clayton ’84 ’13P, whose term ends June 30 Lehigh Trustee Vincent Forlenza ’75 has been selected and approved by the Lehigh Board of Trustees to serve as the next Chair of the Board, commencing July 1 after the term of Kevin Clayton ’84 ’13P concludes on June 30. Selected as Vice-Chairs were Ann Lewnes ’83 ’22P, chief marketing officer and executive vice president, Corporate Strategy & Development of Adobe, and Jordan Hitch ’88 ’20P ’21P, formerly a managing director of Bain Capital. Maria Chrin ’87 ’10P and Philip Sheibley ’81 ’19P will conclude their terms as Vice-Chairs on June 30. “I’m honored to have served Lehigh and am looking forward to working together with my colleagues, as well as President Joe Helble and the Lehigh leadership, during this next stage of Lehigh’s future,” said Forlenza. “Lehigh is an inspiring, resilient community,” he said. “There are many successes to point to over the past decade that we will continue to build on; more recently, it’s indicative of the talent and drive of our students, faculty, staff, community and leadership that during the pandemic the university continued to not only make progress toward its goals in research and scholarship but also make contributions that will leave a lasting positive impact for years to come. The launch of a college dedicated to improving human health outcomes—during a pandemic, no less—is one such example. “I am particularly humbled to succeed my close colleague, Kevin Clayton, who helped ensure these advancements were fully realized through his clear-eyed and passionate leadership.” Clayton has been Chair of the Board since July 1, 2017. His dedicated service has included 22 years on the Board and Interim President in 2014-15. Forlenza recently retired as executive chairman of the board of directors of Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD), a global medical technology company headquartered in Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, after serving as its CEO. He led the transformation of the company from a manufacturer of medical supplies to a topfive medical device, diagnostic and life science company. A passionate supporter of Lehigh’s academic and research mission, Forlenza provided strategic insights that were instrumental in shaping the creation of the College of Health. He and his wife, Ellen, established the Ellen and Vincent Forlenza ’75 Chair in Health Innovation and Technology Endowed Fund in 2020 for the College of Health. Additionally, they established the Ellen and Vincent A. Forlenza ’75 Endowed Fund for research, faculty and programs within the health and healthcare initiative at the Rossin College. Forlenza earned a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering from Lehigh in 1975 and a master’s in business administration from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1980. A U D R E Y M C S A I N

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 1 1 R E S E A R C H Visualizing Protease Activity to Better Understand Cancer The National Institutes of Health has awarded a grant to E. Thomas Pashuck, assistant professor of bioengineering at Lehigh, for “Designing Technologies to Visualize Protease Activity in Cancer Models.” Findings could help improve the understanding of cancer progression and lead to the development of more effective treatments. Proteases are enzymes that act as catalysts in chemical reactions that break proteins down into peptides and amino acids. They play an important role in many physiological processes, such as development and regeneration of tissue and progression of cancer, including migration and metastasis. Quantifying the activities of proteases within tissues is challenging and current options are limited, said Pashuck, who will use novel biomolecular conjugates that are sensitive to proteases to enable visualization of proteolytic activity in tumors. “We will use confocal microscopy to visualize our model tumors and understand how cancer cells modify their local environment, and also how they modulate the proteolytic activity of other cell types within the tumor,” Pashuck said. While other systems that enable the visualization of protease activity exist, Pashuck’s methodwas designed to have lower background fluorescence (increasing imaging quality) and enable visualization of multiple proteases at the same time. Pashuck aims to develop protease-responsive conjugates, incorporate themintohydrogels and visualize spatiotemporal protease activity in model tissue, including hydrogels containing both cancerous and noncancerous cells to better understandmetastatic processes. “This approach is powerful because it can be easily adapted by other labs, used for many proteases and incorporated into most biomaterial systems,” Pashuck said in the project summary. “Since proteases catalyze the cleavage of a peptide bond, they are especially useful formaking stimuli-responsive therapies. Thus this research can help researchers across disciplines develop more effective biomedical interventions.” Cancer is the second leading cause of death in the United States and about 40% of people will be diagnosed with cancer at some time in their lives. “Understanding the complex interactions that occur within the tumormicroenvironment is crucial for creating more effective therapies to inhibit the processes that lead to poor treatment options,” Pashuck said. Drugs targeting protease activity have entered clinical trials, but so far have not been successful. New protease therapies that have improved enzyme specificity have been developed. “Increasing our understanding of protease activity in the tumor microenvironment is needed to bring such promising drugs to the clinic,” Pashuck said. Pashuck, the principal investigator, is working on the project with Lehigh graduate student SamRozans. The total funding amount is $408,493.—Amy White E. THOMAS PASHUCK assistant professor of bioengineering, is working on a project that could help improve understanding of cancer progression and develop more effective treatments. “THIS APPROACH IS POWERFUL BECAUSE IT CAN BE EASILY ADAPTED BY OTHER LABS, USED FOR MANY PROTEASES AND INCORPORATED INTO MOST BIOMATERIAL SYSTEMS.” —E. THOMAS PASHUCK K E I T H N E G L E Y / T H E I S P O T . C O M

1 2 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N “I WAS BORN CURIOUS AND HAVE ALWAYS FELT THAT DISCOVERY PROVIDES AMPLE REWARD FOR CURIOSITY.” —ANDREW KNOLL ’73 R E S E A R C H Understanding Earth’s First Three Billion Years Paleontologist Andrew Knoll ’73 wins prestigious 2022 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences globe, the academy said. By studying tiny fossils of unicellular and multicellular organisms as well as the chemistry of the rocks in which they occur, he was able to reconstruct life and environments through Earth’s deep history. “By analyzing the oldest microscopic fossils on Earth,” said Vivi Vadja, a curator of paleontology at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, “he has been able to answer major questions concerning the evolution of life.” Knoll will officially be presented with the award in late April at Lund University in Sweden. “I was born curious and have always felt that discovery provides ample reward for curiosity,” Knoll said in a news release announcing the award. “To receive the Crafoord Prize is beyond aspiration, both humbling and deeply appreciated.” Upon finishing his Ph.D. at Harvard, Knoll spent five years on the faculty of Oberlin College, then returned to Cambridge as a professor of natural history in 1982. He has been a member of the Harvard faculty since then. Based on insights from experimental physiology, Knoll and his colleagues articulated a widely accepted explanation for the third mass extinction 252 million years ago—an environmental catastrophe that resonates with 21st century global change. He also has described how life returned after the disaster in the form of new plants and animals. Additionally, for nearly 20 years, Knoll served on the science team for NASA’s MERmission to Mars, a research interest that continues to today. Knoll has written five books. His most recent, A Brief History of the Earth, draws on his decades of research. In addition to the Crafoord Prize, he has won several other awards, including the Walcott and Mary Clark Thompson medals of the National Academy of Sciences, the Paleontological Society Medal, the Wollaston Medal of the Geological Society of London and the International Prize for Biology. AndrewKnoll’s fascinationwith fossils began at an early age inWernersville, Pennsylvania, where he grew up. “I can remember the feeling when I was 12 years old and just the idea that you’d break this rock open and you’d see something that no human being has ever seen,” Knoll said in a recent interviewwithCNN. “That was awonderful, wonderful thought, and I still get excited if I discover something or have an idea that no one else has had.” Knoll’s deep interest in fossils and what they reveal about Earth’s earliest history eventually led him to Lehigh, where he received a bachelor’s degree in geology in 1973, then Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. also in geology. Now Knoll, the Fisher Research Professor of Natural History at Harvard University, has been awarded the prestigious 2022 Crafoord Prize in Geosciences from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences for his “fundamental contributions to our understanding of the first three billion years of life on Earth and life’s interactions with the physical environment through time.” The award is a complement to the Nobel Prize. It alternates every year amongmathematics and astronomy, geosciences, biosciences and polyarthritis. Knoll developed and combined methods for the geological, biological and chemical analysis of ancient rocks that arewidely used by researchers around the Andrew Knoll ’73 (at left in Newfoundland) has conducted fieldwork around the world.

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 1 3 R E S E A R C H MENTORING AWARD Lesley Chow, assistant professor of bioengineering and materials science and engineering, is a 2021 recipient of the Early-Career Undergraduate ResearchMentoring Award presented by the Engineering Division of the Council on Undergraduate Research. The peer-nominated award recognizes Chow’s contributions as a mentor to undergraduate students “from a diverse range of backgrounds and identities” and her support of their efforts to share their work with the scholarly community. The recognition also confirms Chow’s track record of involving undergraduates in her research lab and her commitment to expanding experiential learning opportunities for students. Over the past six years, Chow has supervisedmore than 30 undergraduate students in research activities, withmany going on to receive prestigious awards and fellowships. Students fromher group have presented their research at the David and Lorraine Freed Undergraduate Research Symposium, hosted annually by the P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science, and other meetings and regional conferences. Said Sabrina Jedlicka, associate dean for academic affairs in the Rossin College, “She embodies the spirit of inclusive mentorship and has inspired many scientists and engineers—new and established— to strive for a more holistic approach to their mentorship philosophy.” Lehigh AlumWins Wolf Prize in Physics Paul Corkum is a pioneer in the field of ultrafast laser spectroscopy It was a typical Sunday morning for Paul Corkum ’67G ’72 Ph.D.—until his phone rang. Displaying a number that included too many digits to have originated in the United States or Canada, he thought it could be a spam call. Something, he said he’s not sure what, prompted him to answer. “There was a long dead time, makingme evenmore convinced that it was someone trying to giveme amillion dollars, if I only sent them something first,” Corkum said. He persevered through a bad connection, still thinking it was a spamcall, until he heard the word “Wolf.” The call was to inform Corkum, a top contender for the 2015 Nobel Prize for Physics, that he was named a co-recipient of the international Wolf Prize in Physics for 2022. “I amvery glad I did not hang up,” said Corkum. A distinguished professor at the University of Ottawa, principal research officer at the National Research Council of Canada (NRC) and co-director of the NRC-uOttawa Joint Centre for Extreme Photonics, Corkum directs the Joint NRC/University of Ottawa Attosecond Science Laboratory. TheprestigiousWolfPrize, awardedannually since 1978, ispresented toscientists and artists for their “achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations amongst peoples.” Corkum was honored for his contributions in the fields of ultrafast laser science and attosecond—one billionth of a billionth of a second—physics. Ferenc Krausz, a Hungarian-Austrian physicist and professor of physics and chair of experimental physics at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, and Anne L’Huillier, a French/Swedish physicist and professor of atomic physics at Lund University in Sweden, were also co-recipients of theWolf Prize in Physics. “I knew that the sub-field of physics had become important, but I didn’t know it was important enough for the Wolf Prize, and therefore, I did not know that I was a candidate,” Corkumsaid. “With the prize given to three optical scientists, the physics community has decided that attosecond science is one of the most significant sub-fields of physics today.” Corkum is a pioneer in the field of ultrafast laser spectroscopy and known for his contributions to the field of high harmonic generation and for proposing intuitive models which help explain complex phenomena. He received his master’s in physics and his Ph.D. in theoretical physics from Lehigh. His dissertation was titled “The relation betweenmagnetohydrodynamics and space and time dependent correlation functions.” “The remarkable career he has made for himself is a testament to the benefits of a strong education in basic physics, which he received from his dissertation advisor, Al McLennan,” Michael Stavola, Sherman Fairchild Professor of Physics and chair of the Department of Physics at Lehigh, said. “In his recent visits to Lehigh, he has presented physics colloquia in the same engaging way, explaining his remarkable work on observing the inner workings of chemical reactions on an attosecond time scale at a level that could be appreciated by students who found his research exciting and inspirational.”—Stephen Gross U O T T AWA / N A T I O N A L R E S E A R C H C O U N C I L C A N A D A Lesley Chow

1 4 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N C U L T U R E Tiny House, Big Adventure Lehigh alumni Katherine and Mike Hodsdon are traveling the country in a tiny house on wheels With their 240-square-foot house on wheels, Katherine (Glass-Hardenbergh) Hodsdon ’11 and Mike Hodsdon ’10 have been traveling the country—from the wide expanse of Lake Superior, where the crystal-clear water reflects the bright blue sky like a mirror, to the rainforests of the Pacific Northwest, where heavy moss clings to tree branches and ferns sprout like wall-to-wall green carpet. Their home-awayfrom-home is tiny, but it has taken them on plenty of big adventures since June 2021, when the Hodsdons left their full-time residence in Boston to embark on a yearlong tour across the United States. They’ve been documenting the trip on their Instagram page, @tinyvacationhome. “The experiences have been so different everywhere in the country,” Mike explained during a Zoom interview in December 2021 when the couple was visiting San Diego, California. Katherine says she enjoyed Arches National Park in Utah, its red rocky terrain and natural stone arches like the surface of another planet. Mike says he liked the landscape in Arizona where saguaro cacti grow as thick and tall as telephone poles. The western part of the country is very different from what the couple is used to, with Mike growing up in Maine and Katherine in New Jersey before they met as Integrated Business and Engineering (IBE) students at Lehigh. “We didn’t just want to be in the corporateworld our entire lives and alwaysworking.We alsowanted to experience life, and we probably watched a few too many of those tiny home shows onHGTV,” Katherine says. They got inspiration from Tiny House Giant Journey, an alternative lifestyle blog about tiny house living written by a woman who in 2013 quit her job and built a tiny house to travel the country. The trend of Lilliputian living is one that’s continuing to grow. Besides being able to take your house on the road, some of the benefits include shrinking one’s carbon footprint, using the home as a potential source of income, like an Airbnb, and the ability to live “off the grid” by installing solar panels and batteries, according to Comfy Living. The Hodsdons started saving for their trip and the buildout of their tiny house five years ago. Mike says it was important to him that they be able to maintain the mortgage on their Boston home so they had a place in which to return. Katherine’s brother and a couple friends moved in to take care of the property while the Hodsdons were on the road. They also quit their full-time corporate jobs in order to travel, but plan to re-enter the workforce when they return from their trip in the spring. “We watched a lot of our family and friends go through careers and get to retirement and start traveling the country. If there was a way for us to swing it financially, we didn’t want to wait until we were 65 or 70,” Mike says. They considered the trip “taking a year of retirement early.” For the physically active couple, thatmeans being able to start the day with several miles of kayaking or biking and hiking through rugged country terrain—intense activity that might not be possible in their golden years. Building the house was “an absolutely massive learning curve,” Katherine says. While Mike grew up doing woodworking projects with his dad, Katherine had to learn how to use power “WE DIDN’T JUST WANT TO BE IN THE CORPORATE WORLD OUR ENTIRE LIVES AND ALWAYS WORKING.” —KATHERINE HODSDON ’11 The Hodsdons driving through Utah near Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park.

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 1 5 tools. It wasn’t straightforward. For the buildout, the Hodsdons made sure their vacation home had the same amenities as a normal house, such as plumbing, electricity, a washer, dryer and full kitchen, but in a tiny space that has to stand up to hours of shaking and “hurricane force winds” while driving down the highway, Mike says. Other considerations included how they would use the space. “Do we want to be able to have guests over?” Katherine says. “We would need to design a table for four people, so we designed one that pulls out of the wall and has ottomans to sit on, and those ottomans become part of the pull-out bed for our guests.” It took two years to build the house in the backyard of their Boston home. Katherine and Mike say they recruited friends by promising them free beer and smoked meat. The trip itself is a “giant counterclockwise loop” around the country, Katherine says. Their strategy involved hitting northern locations during the summer months so the house wouldn’t get stuck in snow. They started off rolling through New Hampshire and Maine, making a stop at Lake Champlain in New York and the sand dunes around Silver Lake in Michigan before heading to the Dakotas. They spent most of the fall in the Southwest. During the winter they slowly started making their way through the southern part of the country, including Texas and Florida, before heading back to Boston in mid-March. Luckily the trip has been relatively smooth. There was one hangup when the couple blew a tire while on a mountain pass near Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. When they started on the trip, things that went wrong seemed like a much bigger deal than they actually were, Mike explained, but with their experience on the road it doesn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. “One of the goals for me was to get out into the country, but also invest time in our relationship and get to know each other really well,” Mike says. “It’s been really cool to see that growth. Now if something goes wrong, it’s like, ‘Ok, cool. How do we fix it?” Katherine agrees that the experience of building the house and the trip itself has renewed her confidence in her ability to tackle problems when they arise. “I can figure it out. I can get there even if I don’t initially know what tool I need or how it works. The next thing that comes into our life, we will figure it out and get through it,” she says. The Hodsdons plan to eventually buy a plot of land in Maine where they can permanently park the house and use it as a stationary getaway. “We hope our story will get people to think about living their lives on their own terms, whatever that means for them,” Mike says, “because leaving our careers, building a house and going on the open road was crazy scary for us, but totally worth it.” —Christina Tatu Above: The Hodsdons pose next to the “world’s largest buffalo,” a roadside attraction in North Dakota; Mike Hodsdon stands under a tree in Olympic National Park in Washington. C U L T U R E Above: The Hodsdons at Delicate Arch during a sunrise visit to Arches National Park in Utah; left: The interior of the Hodsdons’ 240-squarefoot vacation home on wheels. Above: A map outlining the itinerary for the Hodsdons’ journey, which is taking them on a counter- clockwise loop of the country. TAP TO VIEW THE HODSDONS INSTAGRAM PAGE

1 6 | L E H I G H B U L L E T I N C U L T U R E EXHIBITION Young, Gifted and Black C L O C K W I S E F R O M T O P L E F T : T U N J I A D E N I Y I - J O N E S , B L U E D A N C E R; C H A S E H A L L , E R I C D O L P H Y; C Y G AV I N , R E E F; W I L M E R W I L S O N I V , P R E S; D E R R I C K A D M A S , T H E G R E A T WA L L; S A B L E E LY S E S M I T H , C O L O R I N G B O O K # 6 “Young, Gifted and Black” showcases artworks by emerging artists of African descent, alongside works by established artists who have paved the way for a younger generation. The 50 works come from a single private collection, courtesy of Bernard Lumpkin and Carmine Boccuzzi, a couple who collected almost 500 works of art by mostly emerging Black artists over the past 25 years. The collection was the subject of a book published in 2020. The works were curated by Brooklyn-based artist Matt Wycoff and New York City writer Antwaun Sargent, who edited the book on the collection. Taken together, the works reveal a spectrum of approaches to portraiture, from direct figurative representation to questioning the histories of mis- and underrepresentation and expanded notions of what constitutes a portrait. The collection also features text-based works. On display in the LUAG Main Gallery in Zoellner Arts Center, “Young, Gifted and Black” will be shown through May 27. To see images from the exhibit, go to luag.org.

S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 | 1 7 A T H L E T I C S The COVID-19 pandemic shined light on the importance of people from different places and backgrounds working together to solve problems. For Michael Tahiru ’22, it created an opportunity to form a club that did just that. In his first year at Lehigh, Tahiru dreamed of starting a club geared toward creating opportunities to give back and improve development on his native African continent. When the pandemic struck and most were forced to press pause on their daily lives, Tahiru, a member of Lehigh’s men’s soccer team, felt the timing was perfect. He founded and became president of the Lehigh Africa Business Club. “As an athlete, you get the opportunity to incorporate yourself into the campus community quite easily,” says Tahiru. “However, for the normal African student on campus, it can be difficult to make friends from different parts of the world, so I was thinking about a platform that could enrich the experience of Africans on campus and non-Africans as well, to learn about each other and learn about business on the African continent and around the world.” An Africana Studies class helped Tahiru begin thinking about the club, but he specifically wanted to incorporate business in Africa into Lehigh’s College of Business. Business and economics, he says, are good ways to bring people together. “Business is a language that everyone understands, regardless of your background, race or ethnicity,” Tahiru says. Now with more than 50 members, and events open to all, the club meets once a month in a hybrid format. They host a speaker series and organize fireside chats with business leaders where they discuss everything from technology to the supply chain. “We bring people and companies on board, who can provide internships for students,” says Tahiru. “We also bring leaders who talk about policy all over the world. So all these leaders from Africa, America and Europe are able to engage each other, compare their ideas, connect with each other and create networking opportunities. Students can use that platformto also gain some ideas, ask questions and build their networks.” Tahiru is hoping their main event, the Lehigh Africa Business Club Annual Conference, which will be held for the second year this spring, grows to become one of the first conferences people think about in America and world-renowned. In partnership with the Baker Institute for Entrepreneurship, Creativity and Innovation and companies around the world, the club is also starting a venture competition, which Tahiru says is bringing numerous institutional and individual investors on board. “This new competition will give entrepreneurs from the African continent and companies (from early-stage startup to medium-sized businesses) the opportunity to pitch their ideas through a year-round process.” The club has essentially turned into a full-time job as Tahiru says he has been traveling to Africa and working with business leaders and governments across the continent. Separately, he has started a business, a venture capital company conducting business throughout the African continent, in his home country of Ghana. Tahiru’s work ethic—and success—does not come as a surprise to Lehigh’s men’s soccer coach, Dean Koski. With the way Tahiru spoke and carried himself during a recruiting visit to Lehigh, Koski believed that the finance major would also make an impact in the campus community. “I had no idea how or when,” Koski says. “I just knew he had some special qualities that would exceed what he was capable of achieving on the soccer field.” One of the more memorable moments for Koski was when Tahiru introduced him to a rear admiral for the Ghanian Navy. Koski was impressed, to say the least. “Of course, Michael just smiled humbly,” Koski says. “In a nutshell, that’s who Michael is—a humble leader, an entrepreneur, a teammate and someone who has the ability to change his community and his nation. … I continue to be amazed, impressed and in awe of his ability to connect with so many different business leaders in the U.S. and Africa.” Tahiru’s focus isn’t on himself, though. He says it’s all about helping others. “I’ve grown in knowing that success in life is not just about myself, but also giving back to other people. In this case, creating a platform where people can learn about Africa, get internships [and more],” Tahiru says. “Impacting other people’s lives has been a really, really transcendent experience.”—Justin Lafleur Africa Business Club Creates Connections Lehigh soccer’s Michael Tahiru ’22 is also making an impact off the field by creating the Lehigh Africa Business Club. C H R I S T A N E U / H A N N A H A L LY

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