A statement posted to the university’s website announced that Alice P. Gast, who served as Lehigh’s 13th president from 2006 to 2014, passed away October 27 following a nearly four-year battle with pancreatic cancer.
“She was a brilliant chemical engineer and scholar,” said current Lehigh President Joseph Helble.
School officials say Gast was the first woman to lead Lehigh and guided the university through a period of growth in research, academic innovation, global engagement and stronger community ties.
Helble says Gast was an academic innovator, who was the first to bring the campus community together to form a strategic plan.
“What it really focused on, first and foremost, was identifying opportunities for research and scholarly excellence, areas where Lehigh was positioned to make important contributions, and areas we needed to develop to give our students the opportunity to get educated in and prepare for jobs in areas that would be of increasing importance,” said Helble.
During her tenure, Gast led a comprehensive strategic plan, oversaw a $500 million capital campaign, and expanded Lehigh’s footprint through the addition of the Stabler Campus.
Under her leadership, automotive executive Lee Iacocca provided transformational support for the creation of a new initiative, the Iacocca International Internship Program.
The university described her as a driving force behind projects such as the STEPS building—Lehigh’s hub for interdisciplinary research in science, technology, environment and policy—and the Mountaintop initiative, which reimagined former Bethlehem Steel facilities as spaces for open-ended, student-led innovation.
Before coming to Lehigh, she taught for nearly two decades at Stanford University and later served as vice president for research and associate provost at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
After leaving Lehigh in 2014, Gast became president of Imperial College London, where she served until 2022.
Helble says under Gast’s leadership, the emphasis on community connections and outreach increased, while also expanding global opportunities for learning.
The campus changed too. Gast spearheaded the effort to develop the Mountaintop Campus.
“What’s now known as Building C, where we have a drone lab, where our art Architecture and Design Lab has their programs, studios, classrooms that take full advantage of the three dimensional space,” said Helble.
Helble says Gast was a steadfast champion of Lehigh University’s Excellence in all areas.
And while her passing, like the changing of the leaves marks a new season for the University, her legacy will endure.
“She was such a leader. I think Lehigh was privileged to have her here,” said Helble.
Gast was 67 years old.