LehighWeek Volume 12, Issue 31

              Year in Review
Special pull-out section
reviews all the news for the
1998-99 academic year
Volume 12, Issue 31
LehighVfefc
The campus digest for innovation, news and events with SouthMountaineer
Have a great summer
Look for the next issue
of LehighWeek mid July
June 3,1999
CBE "on threshold"
Richard M. Durand, professor
and chairman of marketing at
the Robert H. Smith School of
Business at the University of
Maryland, will become Herbert
E. Ehlers Dean of the
College of Business and
Economics (CBE) on
June 28.
The announcement of
Durand's appointment
came just before
Herbert Ehlers '62,
managing director with
Goldman Sachs & Co.
and a member of the
board of trustees, gave
$1 million to Lehigh to
support the deanship for
the next four years.
Ehlers said he believes
Lehigh is poised on the "threshold of greatness." President Gregory C. Farrington said
Ehlers' gift played an "important
role in attracting Dick Durand.
Such funding is critical in allowing the dean to fund new initiatives and continue successful
programs."
Provost Nelson Markley
said Durand "is the right person
to lead the CBE into the new millennium."
Durand has worked with corporations to develop research
partnerships for faculty, and to
generate consulting projects for
MBA students, and has helped
establish career centers for undergraduate and graduate business students. He received the
Outstanding Leadership Award
from the Maryland Business
School Alumni Chapter in 1996
and the University of Maryland
Teacher Award in 1997.
From 1980 to 1987, Durand
taught marketing management
at Auburn University. A native
of Manhattan who has also lived
in Cuba, Durand received his
B.A. in political science, his MBA
and his Ph.D. in business administration from the University of
Florida. He has also taught at
Southern Illinois University and
the University of Alabama.
Durand's wife, Jan Redinger,
has been a teacher in the Montgomery County (Maryland)
Schools for 26 years. His son,
Travis, 22, works in a Maryland
school system, and his son, Rick,
26, is a doctoral student in physics at Cornell.
Ehlers earned a B.S. in mathematics and an M.S. in management science from Lehigh. He
was CEO and chief investment
officer of Eagle Asset Management Inc., a Florida firm with $6
billion under management, from
1981 to 1994, when he founded
Liberty Investment Management, a firm with $5 billion in
managed assets which he served
as chairman and CEO. Goldman
Sachs acquired Liberty in 1997.
Ehlers and his wife, Mary,
who live in Belleair, Fla., established the Ehlers Family Scholarship Fund, which has helped
45 students attend Lehigh.
Rob Upton
Senior class officers (L to R) Maureen Johnson, Jennifer Conigliaro, Colleen Griggs and
Eric Sherman pose with Katie Couric (center) before Commencement.
Couric speaks at 131st Commencement
Look beyond the dream job
Katie Couric, co-anchor of NBC's
"Today" show, told 1,100 Lehigh
graduates on Sunday (May 30)
that finding the right job takes
the kind of persistence displayed
by Lehigh's senior class officers
"who just wouldn't get off my
back" in persuading her to speak
at commencement.
Couric, who spoke before a
Goodman Stadium crowd of
10,000 at Lehigh's 131st commencement, said she turned
down 12 commencement invitations this year, but said yes to
Lehigh after the senior class officers wrote letters, camped outside the "Today" show, and kept
"begging, pleading and stroking
my ego, until finally, they just
wore me down."
In her address, Couric gave
career advice, recommending hot
fields serving "aging baby
boomers like myself," such as
physical therapy, gerontology
and geriatric law, as well as technology jobs, saying there   are
350,000 software jobs available
this year and only 30,000 diplomas in computer areas being
conferred.
She said raw intellect, adaptability and communications
skills are keys to success in ca-
reers~to~&ay, as most of the
graduates will have 20 different
jobs in their lifetimes and all of
them will involve working with
people.
Work should feel like play,
Couric said. "Getting that brass
ring is no fun if you don't enjoy
the merry-go-round."
Couric said no job was more
important than raising children,
and told the graduates to find a
life partner who regarded being
with one's children as parenting
and not as baby-sitting.
"You are inheriting a crazy
world," Couric said, citing school
shootings, mail bombs and gang
wars. "Have the courage to
speak out against bigotry and
find ways to serve others.
There's a saying, 'The fragrance
stays on the hand that gives the
rose.'"
Receiving degrees were seniors and graduate students
from nearly every state and
about 20 countries. There were
39 doctorates, 206 masters' degrees and 855 bachelors' degrees
conferred.
President Gregory C.
Farrington conferred upon
Couric an honorary Doctor of
Humane Letters degree. Also receiving honorary degrees were
Lloyd John Ogilvie, chaplain of
the U.S. Senate, honorary Doctor of Divinity degree; Peter C.
Rossin'48, entrepreneur, honorary Doctor of Engineering degree; and Curtis Barnette, chief
executive officer, Bethlehem
Steel Corp., honorary Doctor of
Laws degree.
Senior class president
Maureen Ann Johnson of
Colchester, Vt. gave a brief address to her fellow classmates.
Holcombe named interim advancement vice president
Robert M. Holcombe '58 '69 M.B.A., assistant
vice president of development, will become the interim vice president for advancement, effective July
1. He replaces Jill Sherman, who is leaving
Lehigh to become vice president for institutional
advancement at Haverford College. Holcombe has
served Lehigh for more than 35 years in the development area. He was instrumental in securing the
$25 million gift from Pete Rossin for the College of
Engineering and Applied Science, as well as many
other large gifts across campus.
In making the announcement, Pres. Gregory
C. Farrington said, "Bob's knowledge of Lehigh,
his long development experience and his personal
relationships with many major donors will assure
continuity and stability in our advancement operation. We will begin a search immediately for a permanent successor to Jill. I am sure this dedicated
team will continue to do well under the leadership
of Bob Holcombe."
Sherman came to Lehigh from Ursinus College
in 1995 as executive director leadership gifts. At
Haverford she will supervise development, public
relations, alumni relations and government relations.
Holcombe joined Lehigh in 1963 as assistant
director of development and founded the Asa
Packer Society for major donors in 1967. He was
named assistant vice president of development in
1980 and executive secretary to the Lehigh Board
of Trustees in 1987. He received the 1995 Paul
Franz Award for his excellent service to Lehigh
and his dedication and devotion to the university.
He was also a co-winner of the 1995 Lehigh Award
for distinguished service to the university.
He has also been active in the community, serving on the boards of Historic Bethlehem, Inc., the
Boys and Girls Club, Wiley House (now KidsPeace)
and the Blue Cross of the Lehigh Valley, including two years as chairman of the board.
Chen named Rossin
engineering dean
John C. Chen, the Carl R.
Anderson Professor of chemical
engineering, has been named
dean of the P.C. Rossin
College of Engineering
and Applied Science for
an interim period beginning July 1. He replaces
Harvey Stenger, who
resigned as dean in February, effective June 30,
and is returning to the
chemical engineering
faculty.
In making the announcement, Provost
Nelson Markley said, I
am confident John will
provide strong leadership to the College during this interim period.
He will serve until his
successor is identified
through an international search,
which will commence this fall. I
expect to appoint a committee
shortly to
launch this
effort."
Chen
joined the
faculty in
1970 and was
named the
Anderson
Professor in
Chen 1981 His re_
search specialty is in multiphase
transport phenomena, including
various subjects in heat transfer,
multiphase flow, and energy conversion. He has served as chairman of chemical engineering
(1982-1989) and as director of
the Institute of Thermo-Fluid
Engineering and Science.
In one national research
project, Chen established the
feasibility of alternative refrigerants that do not contain the
CFCs and HCFCs suspected of
causing ozone depletion.
Now completing a sabbatical
year abroad, Chen is lecturing at
universities in New Zealand and
Australia, and writing journal
articles and book chapters. His
many awards include Germany's
prestigious Max Planck (1994)
and Alexander von Humboldt
Senior (1992) research awards,
the American Institute of
Chemical Engineers' Donald Q.
Kern Award (1988) and Lehigsi's
Libsch Award (1986) and R.R.
and E.C. Hillman Award (1996).
Chen has also chaired the
Faculty Financial Planning and
Operations Committee (FFPOC)
and was founding chair of the
College's Academic Policy Committee. He has also served as a
director for both the Council for
Chemical Research and the
American Institute of Chemical
Engineers. For the latter organization, in 1997, he became
only the third person to receive
the Heat Transfer and Energy
Conversion Division Award since
its establishment in 1988.
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