Jeremy Gibson Pʼ28, Murray H. Goodman Dean of Athletics, is a bit of an anomaly in college athletics. In a career spanning nearly 30 years, heʼs been at just two other institutions. He spent nearly 17 years at Harvard working his way from intern to senior associate director of athletics, and 11 at Merrimack as vice president and director of athletics where he helped lead the collegeʼs transition to Division I. Starting at Lehigh last year, Gibson already oversaw the sanctioning of womenʼs wrestling as a varsity sport and looks to maintain the foundation of the department while finding additional ways to strengthen and support Lehigh Athletics. What drew you to Lehigh? When I heard Joe Sterrett ʼ76 M.Ed.ʼ78 Pʼ03 Pʼ05 Pʼ07 Pʼ09 [former Murray H. Goodman Dean of Athletics] was retiring, I was intrigued. There was an element of each of my prior institutions embedded within the role at Lehigh. Obviously, a truly exceptional academic institution with deep history and traditions around athletics, like I experienced at Harvard, but also a little bit of an entrepreneurial spirit that was similar to what I experienced at Merrimack. … I visited and quickly fell in love with the campus and the vision I came to understand from President Helble—and how Athletics could help achieve it. It didnʼt take long to realize that, yes, the campus is amazing, but the people are really special. Fast-forward a year and a half from Lehigh just coming onto my radar to moving here, having my younger son transfer from Villanova to Lehigh and my older son is enrolled in Lehighʼs Catastrophe Modeling and Resilience program. Now Iʼm not just the Dean of Athletics, Iʼm a Lehigh parent two times over and seeing why this university has such a strong generational tie for families. Did you give any thought to stepping into a role that someone held for nearly 40 years? As you can imagine, over 19 months, a lot of people have made the comment, ‘Youʼve got really big shoes to fill.ʼ And from day one—it made Joe laugh the first time I said it—I said, ‘Well, Joeʼs keeping his shoes, and I brought my own, so it all kind of works out.ʼ Joe did so much of this role exceptionally well, but what he did better than anything is hire good people. I came into a large department with a great staff of people who value what they do. They value being part of the educational process, a sentiment which is becoming more and more rare in college athletics, but Iʼm truly surrounded by people, whether itʼs coaches or administrators, who view themselves as educators and developers of young people. My role now is to steward that and figure out how we can take this amazing foundation, and modernize our enterprise, because the market demands that. Competitive teams matter. … They amplify our brand. They give us opportunities to talk more and more about all of the great things outside of athletics that are happening at Lehigh. What are your priorities going forward? Weʼre going to keep our feet firmly planted in the foundation of who we are. Our identity is not going to change. Weʼre going to be an athletic program where people who compete for our teams are going to be students who are truly representative of the institution. And weʼre going to compete in a way that makes our community proud. … It is a fundamentally different college athletic landscape than it was 19 months ago when I walked in. The NIL rules remain Bringing His Own Shoes Jeremy Gibson is Lehighʼs first new head of the athletic department in 36 years. While respecting the past, heʼs looking to make his own mark. By Stephen Gross “COMPETITIVE TEAMS MATTER. … THEY AMPLIFY OUR BRAND. THEY GIVE US OPPORTUNITIES TO TALK MORE AND MORE ABOUT ALL OF THE GREAT THINGS OUTSIDE OF ATHLETICS THAT ARE HAPPENING AT LEHIGH.ˮ —Jeremy Gibson Pʼ28, Murray H. Goodman Dean of Athletics 30 | LEHIGH ALUMNI BULLETIN | FROM THE NEST MARCO CALDERON
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