Alumni · Rossin College
We are Lehigh Engineers
From the escalator to the James Webb Space Telescope, from the Panama Canal to the artificial heart — the record of what Lehigh engineers have built, and the network they still belong to.
- Alumni network89,000+
- Engineering since1865
- Alumni on the roll below17
- Countries with Lehigh alumni140
What alumni are doing now
The accomplishments of Lehigh engineering alumni run from autos to artificial hearts, from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship, from the College’s earliest days on South Mountain to the furthest reaches of space.
- Greg Scaven ’85 — Chemical engineering alum whose career in pyrotechnics, explosives and propellants spans the defense, automotive and aerospace markets.
- Stacey Cunningham ’96 — Industrial engineering alum and former President of the New York Stock Exchange, returning to address Lehigh’s 158th Spring Commencement.
- Ann Tracy ’85 ’86 M’90 MS’91 — Chief sustainability officer at Colgate-Palmolive, in the spotlight for leadership in reducing plastic waste.
- Animangsu Ghatak Ph.D.’03 — Chemical and biomolecular engineering alum, elected to the Indian National Science Academy.
- Ji-Cheng “JC” Zhao Ph.D.’95 — Materials science and engineering alum, named Dean of the College of Engineering at the University of Connecticut.
- Judy Marks ’84 P’13 — President and chief executive of Otis Worldwide, and Lehigh’s 2022 commencement speaker.
- Scott Willoughby ’89 — Electrical engineering alum, elected to the National Academy of Engineering for his leadership on the James Webb Space Telescope.
- Ricole Johnson ’89 — Senior project engineer at Boeing, recognized by the Society of Women Engineers for a recent patent.
- Emily Winn-Deen ’74 — President of RxDx Advisors, and a member of Lehigh’s first co-educational undergraduate class.
Lehigh engineers: the first hundred years
Lehigh has been a leader in the development of engineering education since the founding of the University in 1865. These are some of the graduates of its first century—and their legacy in engineering and innovation.
Patented the "inclined elevator" in 1892 — the forerunner of the modern escalator.
Installed the first working escalator as an amusement ride at Coney Island in 1897, and sold the design to the Otis Elevator Company in 1899.
Filed a patent for the Packard Electric Lamp five years after graduating — the first of more than forty patents in his lifetime.
The Packard Motor Company he co-founded built the V-1650 engine that powered most P-51 Mustangs in the Second World War.
Led the design of the first hydroelectric generating plant at Niagara Falls, and patented the "Stillwell regulator" that kept it from overproducing power.
Charles Marshall and Howard McClintic
Classmates who formed the McClintic-Marshall Construction Company in 1900, which grew into the largest independent steel manufacturing firm in the United States.
The firm built the Golden Gate Bridge, the George Washington Bridge, Detroit’s Ambassador Bridge, and the locks of the Panama Canal.
One of the best known and most influential members of the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey.
As president and chairman of Bethlehem Steel through two world wars, the Depression and the skyscraper boom, he shifted the company between armament and domestic expansion.
Invented the "Moore lamp" — the first commercially viable light source based on gas discharge rather than incandescence.
At the forefront of the development of the modern silk manufacturing industry in China.
Chosen by the editors of Fortune for permanent membership in its Hall of Fame of Business Leadership.
Called by The New York Times "the intellectual midwife at the birth of the atomic bomb".
Widely counted among the most influential business leaders of the twentieth century.
As general manager of Ford’s Ford Division he introduced the Mustang in 1964 — the most successful first-year sales of any automobile.
The entrepreneur whose $25-million endowment in 1998 gave the College its name — the largest gift ever made to Lehigh at the time.
Credited with making Lehigh a center of civil engineering research through his studies of the properties of steel structures.
Through ORBA Corp, converted the Great Lakes into an efficient waterway with automated docks and self-unloaders for shipping ore and coal.
Known worldwide for his research in circulatory assist devices and artificial heart pumps.
Named by ENR Magazine in 1999 as one of the "Top 125 People" of the 125 years since the journal’s founding.
Credited with discovering the "J-integral", a key concept in fracture mechanics.
What Lehigh engineers built
- Tau Beta Pi
The national engineering honor society was founded at Lehigh in 1885 to recognize achievement in the field. Lehigh’s is the first chapter, Pennsylvania Alpha, and the society’s seal carries the brown and white.
- The first commercial product made in space
Microscopic polystyrene beads, ten micrometers across, manufactured aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger in April 1983 for calibrating particle-size instruments. The process was developed jointly by Lehigh and NASA.
- Columbia shuttle forensics
After the 2003 Columbia disaster, NASA asked Lehigh exclusively to help analyze the debris—the first university to do so, because of its microscopy. Materials science students presented the findings as their senior project.
- Transporting Allied forces
Brothers Francis (Class of 1887) and Ralph Dravo (Class of 1889) founded the Dravo Corporation in 1891. Half a century later, it led the development of the "Landing Ship, Tank"—a 328-foot cargo ship with an opening bow that could beach itself, putting armored vehicles and troops directly ashore without a port. Between 1942 and 1945, Dravo built hundreds of them; they carried Allied forces into combat at the Battle of Normandy in Europe and the Battle of Iwo Jima in the Pacific.
Stay involved
The University’s alumni and student network — professional connections, mentoring, and people who did what you are about to do.
Regional chapters, reunions and interest groups run by the Lehigh Alumni Association.
Groups that bring alumni together around shared cultures, backgrounds and professions.
Mentor a student, host an event, interview an applicant, or serve on a board.
Alumni events on campus, in your region, and online.
New address, new email, new job — tell the Alumni Association so the College can reach you.
On LinkedIn, follow the Rossin College. List “P.C. Rossin College of Engineering and Applied Science at Lehigh University” on your own profile to add yourself to the Alumni tab there.
Support the College
Alumni support widens access to experiential learning, seeds large interdisciplinary research, and funds the students who come next. It is also how the College is named: a 1948 graduate’s endowment, the largest gift Lehigh had received.
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