The Lehigh Connection to the World

Lehigh Alumni and Engineering

Richard Harding Davis of Lehigh’s Class of 1886 and his brother Charles Belmont Davis ‘87 were sent to Lehigh by their parents to be under the watchful eye of their uncle, H. Wilson Harding, a professor of physics and electrical engineering.  During the two years Richard was at Lehigh, he and his brother started the Mustard and Cheese Dramatic Club, were involved in sports, including the first football team Lehigh put on the field against Lafayette, and began their literary careers with the Lehigh Burr.

After he left Lehigh, Richard Harding Davis went to work as a journalist and was the first American war correspondent to cover the Spanish American War, greatly assisting in creating the legend surrounding Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and their charge up San Juan Hill.   As a journalist, he greatly influenced the political career of Theodore Roosevelt and the evolution of the American magazine.  Davis traveled worldwide, seeking news-worthy adventures and reporting on many wars and conflicts.

Another Lehigh alumnus, Henry Sturgis Drinker, Lehigh Class of 1871, was also on the world stage.  Dr. Drinker was born in Hong Kong and traveled extensively.  His time at Lehigh studying mining engineering prepared him to tackle some of the engineering projects that challenged world expansion in industry and travel.