Dr. Alice Gast

Dr. Alice P. Gast, an internationally renowned scholar, researcher and academic leader, was appointed the 13th president of Lehigh University in 2006.

Dr. Gast was named one of the top 100 "Modern Era" engineers in the country, under the category of "Leadership" by the American Institute of Chemical Engineers. In 2010, Dr. Gast was named to the prestigious post of science envoy by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and the U.S. State Department. Dr. Gast has served on a number of national advisory committees and boards, including the Board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and as co-chair of the Board of Chemical Science and Technology for the National Research Council.

In 2010, she was awarded an honorary degree from The University of Western Ontario where she was described as “a scholar, a researcher and a leader who is a great inspiration to female and male students alike, who aspire to enter the profession of engineering.” Dr. Gast earned her bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Southern California in 1980 and her master’s and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Princeton University in 1981 and 1984.

Dr. Gast resides on campus in the President’s House with her husband, Bradley J. Askins, and their two children Rebecca and David.