Alumni Profiles

Maria G. Asayag, immigrated from Lima, Peru to the Lehigh Valley in 1994. A product of the Allentown School District, she began cultivating her passion for social justice during her time at Muhlenberg College.  She received her BA in Media and Communications and Spanish Language. Upon graduation, she joined the Admissions Team at Lehigh University. Over the past three years, she has devoted her work to the field of diversity recruitment. Her passion lies in working with underrepresented, first generation students and college access. She truly believes in education being the key for social mobility and is happy to be able to provide students with an opportunity to attend Lehigh.  

Starting her 4th recruitment season at Lehigh, Maria has been an integral part of the diversity recruitment and international recruitment teams. During her tenure at Lehigh, she was able to help bring in one of the most ethnically diverse classes in Lehigh’s history. She has also increased enrollment numbers in the states of California, Florida, and Puerto Rico making them the highest in over 4 years. Aside from her responsibilities in the Office of Admissions, Maria is also the advisor of the student-led organization, Latino Student Alliance.   In addition to diversity recruitment, she also works directly with students Southern California, Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands and international recruitment in Central America, South America and the Caribbean. Maria is currently enrolled in the Educational Leadership Program at Lehigh and is thrilled to be an active member of the Lehigh community.

Lisa is an assistant professor of educational leadership in the College of Education at Auburn University. She began at Auburn in August of 2008 and recently earned promotion and tenure, effective in the fall of 2013. Her original training as an ecologist continues to shape her research interests. She uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the ecology of leadership and learning, or the characteristics of schools that facilitate individual and organizational learning among students, teachers, and administrators. Lisa’s current research is focused on green schools and the leadership and learning required for transforming schools into more socially just, ecologically healthy, and economically viable communities that engage intentionally with the global sustainability movement. She looks for opportunities to integrate sustainability into the courses that she teaches. Lisa was the 2013 winner of the Emily & Gerald Leischuck Graduate Teaching Award, an award that recognizes “faculty members who have consistently shown evidence of superior teaching excellence. These individuals have gone above and beyond the call of duty by engaging their students in the classroom and instilling a love for life-long learning.” Her research and writing has appeared in the Journal of School Leadership, the Journal of Research on Leadership Education, the International Journal of Urban Educational Leadership, The Journal of Sustainability Education and the High School Journal. She also has work published in two recent handbooks of educational leadership. She is currently co-authoring a book about school leadership and whole school sustainability.

Currently, Steve is the High School Principal at the American Community School, Amman, Jordan. He has been there since 2006, having held this position as he worked on his doctoral research. Despite his busy schedule, he continues to be actively engaged in research and writing on matters related to educational leadership, and has served on three dissertation committees since he graduated – two having successfully come to completion thus far. His current research is focused on the leadership characteristics that international schools are looking for when hiring new school heads.  Steve says “the knowledge and skills I attained while immersed in my doctoral studies at Lehigh serve me well each and every day of my professional life.” He is confident that the quality of his Lehigh degree will set him apart from other candidates as he looks for a position as head of school in the overseas arena. 

Dr. Joseph J. Roy is the Superintendent of Schools at the Bethlehem Area School District (BASD), the 6th largest school district in Pennsylvania. Since the start of his tenure as Superintendent in August 2010, Dr. Roy developed and implemented the BASD’s Roadmap to Educational Excellence, a framework for establishing goals for school improvement. Dr. Roy introduced restorative practices at both Liberty and Freedom High Schools to build positive relationships and improve school safety.

Previously, Dr. Roy served as the Assistant Superintendent of the School District of Springfield Township in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania.  Dr. Roy also served as principal of Springfield Township High School and Palisades High School. The creation of the Palisades Academy, a school-within-a-school and the implementation of a standards based curriculum ultimately resulted in Palisades High School earning National Blue Ribbon School recognition.  At Springfield, the faculty’s focus on research and information literacy skills earned the school national acclaim.  

Dr. Roy is the 2011 recipient of the United Way of the Lehigh Valley’s Community Builder Award. Dr. Roy is also the 2004 recipient of the Montgomery County Human Relations Commission’s Multicultural Educator of the Year Award. Dr. Roy received the School Library Journal’s 2004 Administrator of the Year Award and the 2005 National School Public Relations Association’s Outstanding Communicator Award.

Dr. Roy received his undergraduate degree from Franklin and Marshall College, his master’s degree from Bucknell University and his doctoral degree from Lehigh University.