One finds Michael Lehman at the intersection of entrepreneurship, science, and higher education. Prior to joining the Lehigh faculty, Lehman developed and grew new entrepreneurship programs at the Institute for Entrepreneurial Excellence, part of the University of Pittsburgh's Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and College of Business Administration. At Pitt, he served as director of PantherlabWorks, a consulting group designed to catalyze the commercialization of new technologies by supporting innovators and entrepreneurs from a variety of academic backgrounds and professional experiences. As director of student entrepreneurship, he created new academic courses and cross-campus programs to provide hands-on, experiential learning opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students throughout the university.

Earlier in his career, Lehman was founding director of the Juniata College Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. At Juniata, Lehman grew the team that created and expanded the center's four distinct areas including the Sill Business Incubator, a student seed capital fund, academic and curricular programs, and community-based economic development initiatives, including a Keystone Innovation Zone. Lehman serves on the advisory board of several technical-based startups and is a regular presenter at national conferences, including the National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance and the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.