Written by Colin McEvoy | August 5, 2025 | SHARE
Lehigh University has launched a new Global Engagement Directory—an interactive digital tool that maps its worldwide partnerships and highlights the university’s leadership in international collaboration and innovation.
A new global partnerships digital directory mapping Lehigh University’s international engagement is now live, offering the campus community insight into the university’s international engagement and positioning Lehigh at the forefront of innovation in global higher education.
The new Global Engagement Directory provides an interactive, user-friendly platform for exploring where and how Lehigh faculty and staff are engaged around the world.
“Partnerships have always been important for Lehigh's global engagement strategy,” said Cheryl Matherly, Vice President and Vice Provost for International Affairs at Lehigh. “This tool enables us to tell our story, highlight our global connections, and reinforce our leadership in international engagement and innovation.”
Interactive Map and Country Spotlight Pages
The directory features an interactive map showcasing Lehigh’s institutional partnerships around the world and allows users to search for global engagement activity by country, partnership type, and the Lehigh college or department involved.
Additionally, the directory includes individual spotlight pages for nearly two dozen countries, showcasing Lehigh’s global presence and engagement in each. Featured countries include China, Ecuador, France, Germany, India, Japan, Portugal, Spain, the United Kingdom, Zimbabwe, and more, with others planned to be created in the future.
The directory was designed in-house with Tableau, a leading software company for data visualization, business intelligence, and analytics.
Matherly praised those whose work made the new system possible, including Stacy Burger, Director of Global Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives at Lehigh, as well as Lehigh’s Library & Technology Services (LTS), Web & Mobile Services, Office of Institutional Data (OID), work study student Subbu Meyyappan, and graduate students Yueying He and Edris Lotfpouri.
Partnerships from Across the Globe
The launch represents the first phase of the Global Engagement Directory, focused on institution-wide memorandums of understanding (MOUs), Burger said. Future updates will incorporate other types of agreements and activities—such as faculty-led collaborations and department-level initiatives—that reflect the full scope of Lehigh’s global engagement.
“This directory will never be ‘finished’ in the traditional sense,” Burger said. “We’re continuously building on it as new opportunities arise, whether through Lehigh faculty seeking international partnerships or institutions abroad reaching out to connect with us.”
Global Partnerships and Strategic Initiatives is the central point of contact and coordination at Lehigh’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) for international activities undertaken by Lehigh’s colleges and units, and for external institutions that want to engage with the university.
Driving Innovation Through Partnership Technology
Lehigh has institutional-wide MOUs with 38 partner institutions around the world, as well as several other educational institutions with which Lehigh has had discussions or collaborations without a formal MOU in place, according to the Global Lehigh Partnerships Activity Report. The full report, which includes a full list and details about each partnership, can be downloaded here.
Burger encouraged faculty to email her at stb206@lehigh.edu if they are interested in developing new international partnerships or sharing details about existing collaborations for inclusion in the Global Engagement Directory.
“The directory is continuously being updated and evolving alongside our expanding global engagement,” Burger said. “The new system reflects the spirit of Lehigh’s strategic plan, Inspiring the Future Makers, which calls on us to be dynamic, innovative, and forward-looking in all that we do.”