Creative Inquiry Team

Vice Provost for Creative Inquiry

Khanjan Mehta is the inaugural Vice Provost for Creative Inquiry. Mehta champions the creation of learning environments and ecosystems where students, faculty, and external partners come together to increase their capacities for independent inquiry, take intellectual risks and learn from failure, recognize problems and opportunities, and effect constructive and sustainable change.

In a previous avatar, Mehta was the Founding Director of the Humanitarian Engineering and Social Entrepreneurship (HESE) Program, Assistant Professor of Engineering Design, and Affiliate Professor of International Affairs at Penn State. Mehta serves as an Associate Editor for the IEEE Technology and Society Magazine and Contributing Editor for the Engineering 4 Change portal. His latest book, Solving Problems that Matter (and Getting Paid for It), takes a deep dive into STEM careers in social innovation and global sustainable development.

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Assistant Vice Provost for Experiential Learning Programs

Bill Whitney was named Assistant Vice Provost for Experiential Learning Programs in 2022. Prior to that, he served in the role of Administrative Director for the Office of Creative Inquiry at Lehigh University since its inception in January 2017. Bill holds a Ph.D. in Theatre and Drama from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and has been an adjunct professor in the Department of Theatre at Lehigh and the Department of Performing Arts at Cedar Crest College. Prior to his current role, Bill served for six years as Executive Assistant in Lehigh's Office of the President.

In his Assistant Vice Provost role, Bill champions the Impact Fellowships and Mountaintop Summer Experience programs through the Office of Creative Inquiry, and will serve as the lead instigator of the Lehigh 360 initiative. He will work across disciplinary borders to support and strengthen current experiential learning opportunities at Lehigh University, as well as those yet to be created. Bill also holds a Master's degree in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis, and B.A. degrees in English and Theatre Arts from Nebraska Wesleyan University. His past research and scholarship has included questions of reception and production in contemporary experimental theatre of the U.S., and the phenomenon of fringe theatre festivals as cultural tourist artifacts.

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