5 Questions With Alexandra Grant ’11

Keeping Passion A Priority

Current employer and position: Litigation Counsel at Public Service Electric and Gas Company
Degree and major: B.A. English and Art History
Affinity or alliance: Professional Arts Alliance

How did your Lehigh experience inform, help, or influence your life now?
Through my learned skills, experience, and contacts, Lehigh helped me to leverage the life that I wanted for myself. Today, having graduated 12 years ago, I find myself looking back at all the wonderful opportunities and connections I’ve made that I can attribute to my foundational time at Lehigh. Not only did Lehigh give me the confidence to pursue the career I have today, but I had tremendous support from several mentors and professors — through college and long after graduation — who helped guide me to various internship and employment opportunities. And, on a personal note, I have Lehigh to thank for a number of lifelong friendships and my husband.

What has been the most challenging thing you’ve faced since graduating?
Overall, trying to balance my interests in law and the arts into a career has been challenging. After graduating from Lehigh and being a TA in the art history program, I worked in museum education for three years while attending law school at night. After law school, I clerked for a judge and then continued to study art business in Manhattan, which led to a managing job at a large commercial gallery in the city. After a year, I was disappointed to find the environment too unstable and unpredictable, which led me back to the legal world. I clerked for a federal judge for several years before going in house at a utility company, which is where I am today. I continue to stay involved with the arts by advising on curatorial projects, being a board member of a nonprofit organization committed to artists, and helping to organize events for fellow art lovers with the Lehigh Professional Arts Alliance.

What excites you right now?
More arts funding at Lehigh! In 2021, the Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG) received a generous gift of $5 million to help preserve LUAG’s teaching collection and ensure that the gallery can continue to fulfill its mission of providing arts education to students and the community. I have personal memories connected to LUAG, having taken museum studies classes there with the late director and chief curator, Ricardo Viera, and I’m excited to see what the gallery’s next chapter looks like. 

I have personal memories connected to LUAG [...] and I’m excited to see what the gallery’s next chapter looks like.

What advice would you give Lehigh students?
Get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable. It means you’re growing. College is an opportunity to try classes in unfamiliar subjects, join clubs for something new, and make surprising connections. Remain open to change and be prepared with the knowledge that there may be some growing pains along the way. That’s totally normal, and while everyone has their own journey, everyone is on a similar path to finding the person they will be after college.

What keeps you connected to Lehigh?
One of the greatest benefits of attending an institution like Lehigh is its incredible network. I run into Lehigh alumni all the time, and everyone speaks so fondly about their Lehigh experience. Finding that common ground of sharing Lehigh memories — like walking into Linderman Library the first time, ordering a sandwich from the Goose’s secret menu, or knowing that Le-Laf is the best week of the year — is the ultimate way to connect with a stranger. It’s remarkable to have such a shared joy and excitement for your alma mater. I also enjoy hearing from my professors and getting involved in alumni opportunities, like the Arts Alliance.