We sat in the car, idling just off Wilshire Blvd because Jim wanted to go over the situation with Lee Iacocca’s donation to Lehigh.   We were going to meet the icon of the automotive industry, one of our more illustrious alumni and a true self-made son of Allentown, PA.  

Growing up in the Lehigh Valley where his uncle’s hot dog chain, Yacco’s Hot Dogs were well known, Lee was a strong student at Allentown High School and excelled as an undergraduate at Lehigh University and received a Master’s degree at Princeton. Known as the “Father of the Mustang” and revered for his corporate leadership, Lee Iacocca was an inspiring, insightful and demanding alumnus.  His talent for driving businesses to excellence, demanding innovation and leading by example became famous as he turned around Chrysler with an historic government loan guarantee (fully repaid seven years early). 

 Iacocca had a long history with Lehigh graduating in 1945. One of the “greatest generation”, he was generous.  Having lived through the Great Depression and Second World War imbued them with gratitude for their university experience and where it placed them in society motivated a desire to “give back” so that others could benefit from similar experiences.

 Lee was made an honorary trustee and lead the pivotal fundraising campaign in 1988 that allowed Lehigh to purchase the 742-acre Mountaintop Campus from Bethlehem Steel in 1991 for $58M.   In the late 1980’s he helped start the Iacocca Institute, focused on preparing the next generation of global leaders.  By 2008, his philanthropic interests were focused on supporting research on type 1 diabetes in honour of his late wife Mary.  We at Lehigh were grateful for his fundraising prowess and energy helping with its mission.  His ability to raise philanthropic support was legendary from his work in the 1980’s to lead the fundraising effort to restore the Statue of Liberty.

 He was larger than life.

 As we sat in the car, Jim informed me that some years ago Lee had signed a gift agreement for a scholarship at Lehigh, to donate in increments over a five-year period.  The university had stopped receiving his payments and our mission was to get him to fulfil his pledge.  Unsure of the stumbling block, Jim wanted to get agreement to have the scholarship funded.

 I turned to Jim and said, absolutely not. We should tear up that gift agreement and start afresh.  We were going to listen to Lee and hear what he was passionate about.  We knew he cared about students having international experiences and we were on a new track at Lehigh where “globalisation” was now an explicit part of the university strategy.  Now was the time to fulfil his passions and make a difference to students.

 We wound our way up through the Bel Air hills to his gate.  We perched on the steep road waiting as the gate slowly swung open to reveal a mercifully flat driveway.  Lee is tall and stately, meeting us at the door in his v-neck sweater, plaid shirt and house slippers.  He was all smiles and warmth as he slowly but steadily led us into a small sunroom with easy chairs. 

 Over tea we chatted about Lehigh and his experiences as an Industrial Engineering student and his writing for the Brown and White.  He had very fond memories of his hard work to earn his bachelor’s degree in a quick three years. I told him that Lehigh’s rigorous programs were as challenging as ever, and our students were rising to the challenges just as he did. 

 We talked about my past.  I confessed to being a “grease monkey” as a child, helping my dad change spark plugs and set timing in our 1965 Ford Falcon. 

 He interrupted with the forcefulness of Peanuts’ Lucy yelling “THAT’S IT!!” when Schroeder finally plays jingle bells. 

 He said, “Did you say you had a 1965 Falcon?  THAT’S WHAT WE MADE THE MUSTANG FROM!!!” 

 We discussed the V8 “muscle car” with three on the tree that was too nerdy for me to fully or properly appreciate as a teenager when I had to drive it to high school. The Ford Mustang was clearly Lee’s pride and joy, and he was rightly revered for its development. 

We went on to talk about international experiences and Lee’s passion for the topic was clear.  He had helped the Iacocca Institute staff design the Global Village program and was excited about doing more.  He wanted students to have real, hands-on immersive experiences.  I agreed. We needed to go beyond students studying in Paris in a room full of Americans and barely learning how to buy a croissant.  He thought that students could have internships abroad and gain practical experience alongside developing an international perspective. Joe and I visited him again in his office in 2009.  He was always enthusiastic about students having meaningful international experiences.

 Back at Lehigh, along came an invitation to host a table at the 2010 USS Midway Museum Patriot Award Gala in September.   This was to be a marvellous event with dinner on the deck of the USS Midway.

 The USS Midway is an awe-inspiring historic aircraft carrier commissioned in 1945 and serving the US Navy until 1992.  Now serving as a museum ship in San Diego, with a large collection of aircraft, the Midway Museum attracts more than a million visitors a year.  It now hosts naval events, school visits and VIP celebrations.  

 Lee was being honoured for his patriotism and dedication to the preservation of the Statue of Liberty.  We agreed to sponsor a table and arranged for a group of Lehigh staff and alumni to attend the dinner and cheer him on. 

 It was a beautiful San Diego evening with a tremendous spread of hors d’oeuvres laid out across banquet tables on the carrier’s massive deck.  It looks so large and impressive and yet, it seems far too small a runway upon which to land a jet, at full speed, at sea.

 The San Diego symphony played nostalgic Sinatra tunes that seemed fitting for Lee, most of the guests, and the Midway herself.  Some 600 people were in attendance. We had Dick and Jane Brown at our table along with some staff and other alumni.  We shifted our weight and discreetly wiped our eyes as the national anthem was movingly sung by Caressa Cameron, Miss America 2010 on the deck of this historic aircraft carrier that had seen so much.  

 Lee had his friends and family near him and was gracious and warm as he came around to greet each table. He was humble and modest as he accepted this accolade and he was driven around the Midway in a 1985 Plymouth Voyager minivan, as a tribute to his pioneering development of the minivan at Chrysler.  Perhaps more pivotal than the Mustang, Lee’s persistence in developing the minivan, failing at Ford and finally succeeding at Chrysler, led to a revolution in the way families moved around town and country.

 Back at Lehigh several weeks later, while congratulating Lee again, we sent him a draft idea for the Iacocca International Internships at Lehigh.  As he suggested, students would go abroad and gain real-world experiences.  We envisioned industrial placements as well as service projects and academic research opportunities.  Students working in internships for corporations should be paid by the corporations.  Those participating in service projects or academic research would be supported by the Iacocca Internship funds.  We were thinking expansively.  We wanted all students to have an opportunity for such an open-ended experience, abroad or at home, in service, work or pursuing an entrepreneurial idea. 

 Lee was excited about our proposal.  Always the fund-raiser and deal-maker, he proposed that he donate $1million and add another million each time we raised matching funds of a million up to $5M for a total fund of $10M.  This would endow the program and allow students to pursue internships far into the future. 

 We launched the program with a visit by Lee to Lehigh in September 2011.  I swallowed hard and tried not to choke up entering the stunning Wood Dining Room, in Iacocca Hall, on the Mountaintop Campus Lee had helped Lehigh to acquire.  The packed audience of Lehigh staff, students, business, community and government leaders, jumped up in a vigorous and loud standing ovation as Lee entered on my arm. 

I introduced him as “a great son of Lehigh” and I welcomed him home again to more effusive applause.

 Iacocca addressed the gathering saying:

"The idea for the Iacocca International Internships emerged from the questions: How do you go about building global leadership?  How do you demonstrate to people from different worlds that their commonalities are greater than their differences?  By putting together cross-cultural teams, students are under pressure to perform by working through their cultural differences.  They say yes to globalization, yes to cooperation.  The student's enthusiasm is infectious, and I would like to think it will infect the world."

 Another standing ovation.

 I noted that the new Iacocca internships will combine global education with practical real-world internships and said: “Through Lee’s vision and generosity, this gift will provide opportunities for our students to gain a deeper understanding of the unique challenges that exist in an interdependent and highly connected global society”.

 Over the years we kept Lee’s sister, Delma (Delma Iacocca Kelechava) involved in Iacocca Institute activities.  She was a dynamic character, a true Allentown Italian American with a deep love and devotion to her younger brother Lee. 

 We also enjoyed Yocco’s hot dogs from time to time.  They were an enduring legacy of the Iacocca family, Lee’s uncle and cousins.  Eating one produced an enduring memory of fabulous secret chili sauce and spectacular indigestion. 

  October 2012

Lee sent me a Congratulatory e-mail via his beloved assistant Norma Saken, when it was announced that I was joining the Chevron Board of Directors. 

Dear Alice:

When I shared the email of your appointment to Chevron’s Board of Directors with Mr. Iacocca he wanted to make sure we sent off a congratulation note filled with good wishes. As you well know “energy” and all it encompasses is of particular interest to Mr. Iacocca. He hopes this position will provide you with a fulfilling as well as educational experience and believes Lehigh can only benefit from your association with Chevron.

Kind regards,
Norma for Lee Iacocca

 Norma is an amazing person as well and has a new memoir

March 2014 - I visited Lee one more time.  In his 90th year he is a gracious and warm man, now in decline but ever so charming.

We had a nice discussion in his sunny breakfast room. We caught up on his olive oil investments.  He repeats his questions and was eager to talk about my future.  The 50th anniversary of the Mustang was to be held on April 17 in Las Vegas.  I dearly hoped the father of the Mustang would be able to attend.

 Lee had a new dog, Spanky.  He is a black terrier and couldn't be sweeter.  Norma told me that Lee’s girlfriend Juliette left in October.  She took her dog Ginger with her.  Lee missed the dog (not the girl).  Norma found Spanky as a rescue dog through Lisa Presley.

Lee was in a good place surrounded by love.

Lee died in 2019. There is a fitting obituary in Brown and White and another in the New York Times.