Alice Gast

Alice Petry Gast (born May 25, 1958) is the 13th President of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. She is Lehigh's first female president.

Born in Houston, Texas, Gast graduated as valedictorian from the University of Southern California in 1980 with a B.Sc. in chemical engineering. She completed her postgraduate work at Princeton University, receiving a M.A. (1981) and Ph.D. (1984) in chemical engineering. From 1985 to 2001 she taught at Stanford University, and then moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she served as the Vice President for Research and Associate Provost until her appointment to Lehigh in 2006.

Gast is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. She is married to Bradley J. Askins, a computer scientist. They have two children, Rebecca and David.

Gast is not the first Lehigh President recruited from MIT. In 1895 they invited Thomas Messinger Drown to take the Presidency.

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Preceded by Gregory C. Farrington	President of Lehigh University 2006–present	Succeeded by Incumbent