FROM THE NEST | SUMMER 2023 | 9 CHRISTA NEU / MARCUS SMITH ’25 COLLEGE OF HEALTH Following a comprehensive national search, Elizabeth (Beth) Dolan, professor of English and Health, Medicine and Society at Lehigh, has been named Lehigh’s Dean for the College of Health. She has served as interim dean since 2020. Under Dolan’s leadership as interim dean, the college partnered with healthcare providers, nonprofits, government entities and corporations to expand faculty research opportunities and provide internship and experiential learning opportunities for students. She also has overseen significant growth in faculty and academic programs. As dean, Dolan plans to guide the college in building upon research strengths in community health, environmental health, indigenous health, population health and health data science. She will also lead the college in establishing a new strategic research cluster in disability independence. All eyes looked way up—to the top floors of Fairchild-Martindale Library on a sunny April day as dancers swayed and shifted rhythmically to music. Their “floor” was the exterior library wall, and the dancers, hanging from heavy-duty nylon ropes like mountain climbers, moved gracefully in unison or in sequence, toward each other or away, sometimes entwined, sometimes using the wall to leap forward. They rappelled down, then back up. Combining artistry and athleticism, the performance by Bandaloop was an awe-inspiring spectacle, and much more. The company’s visit to Lehigh was a component of Zoellner Arts Center’s 25th anniversary celebration—a manifestation of a desire to bring artistic experiences outside the center’s walls and to connect directly with the community. It was an exercise in collaboration among Zoellner, Lehigh University Libraries, the National Museum of Industrial History and local schools, providing middle school students with an opportunity to visit campus, experience an extraordinary event and learn about the history of the area’s textile industry, examined in the “LOOM: Field” piece presented by Bandaloop. “As we look forward,” said Zoellner Executive Director Mark Wilson, “our vision for the next 25 years is to activate spaces on campus and infuse the community with art, build an air of excitement with outdoor performances and connect with more campus and community partners to develop creative energy.” Said University Librarian Boaz Nadav-Manes, “We want to bring people into our spaces in a way that is welcoming and adventurous, in a way that makes them curious and that shows them the ways libraries can support them.”—Jodi Duckett Bandaloop Wows Zoellner Arts Center collaborates with Lehigh University Libraries to bring the aerial dance company to campus. CULTURE ʼ16 As a student in Lehigh’s Technical Entrepreneurship master’s program, entrepreneur Briana Gardell ’14 ’15G had an “aha” moment nearly a decade ago while trying to make an egg out of soap materials for a homework manufacturing assignment. She wound up creating Goblies (pronounced go-bleez)—throwable and biodegradable paint blobs you toss like water balloons. Though Goblies had early success—a CNBC reporter named it one of the hottest toys at the 2016 North American International Toy Fair in New York—Gardell garnered more attention this spring when national retailer Target put Goblies Throwable Paintballs and Play Paint on its shelves. Her story was featured on 6ABC News (Philadelphia) and The Morning Call (Allentown, Pennsylvania.) Gardell is CEO of Messimatic LLC. On Target National retailer puts Goblies on its shelves. ENTREPRENEURSHIP | ALUMNI ’14 ’15 Elizabeth Dolan Named Dean
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