Six years ago, the arts at Lehigh were at a turning point.
“During the pandemic,” recalls Mark Wilson, executive director of the Zoellner Arts Center, “there was a lot of uncertainty about where Zoellner was going to be. Even asking the question: Would people miss Zoellner if it went away?”
The Zoellner Advisory Council, a group of advocates for the arts at Lehigh, were committed to ensuring that didn’t happen — most notably, Marc Falato ’87.
An investment banker turned producer, Falato had found success on Broadway as a producer of Tony award winning productions like Spring Awakening (2007) and Glengarry Glen Ross (2005). He remained connected and committed to the arts at Lehigh as a valued consultant, serving on the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s Advisory Council and as a long-standing member of Zoellner’s Advisory Council.
And when Wilson was appointed director in July 2020, Falato served as a top advisor helping to navigate through the challenge of maintaining Zoellner operations during lockdown.
“He spent countless hours speaking to me, either on Zoom or on the phone or answering emails,” says Wilson. “Having that counsel during that uncertainty was something that he gave to me. [...] He was such a great listener. He was even generous with his time to speak with [my team] to share his thoughts.”
Now, Falato has stepped up with another generous act at a pivotal time. With the support of his spouse Pun Punyaratabandhu, he has made a $2.5-million gift to create the Marc Falato ’87 Executive Directorship of the Zoellner Arts Center. The endowed fund will provide permanent resources to enable the director to advance Zoellner’s future and its ability to remain ambitious, relevant, welcoming, and transformative to students and our community.
“It's an absolute honor to support Zoellner, to support Mark, and to support the executive directorship and the arts of Lehigh,” says Falato.
The Impact of the Arts
In 1997, Zoellner Arts Center became a permanent home for the arts at Lehigh. The 105,000-square-foot facility is the home to the music and theatre departments, the Presenting Series, and Lehigh University Art Galleries (LUAG), serving the vibrant arts community of Lehigh and the broader Lehigh Valley.
Through the years, Falato’s support of the arts has been felt beyond Zoellner. Robert Flowers '91 P'27, Herbert J. and Ann L. Siegel Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, says “Marc’s commitment has been thoughtful, steady, and deeply felt. He understands that the Arts are not the margins of a great university. They are central to how we educate, build community, and imagine the future.”
With the valuable time and insights of trusted advisors like Falato, Flowers says Wilson has transformed the program for both the university and the broader community by building partnerships across the campus and shaping Zoellner into the dynamic center it is today.
“Zoellner is not simply a venue. It is a point of connection across disciplines, generations, and communities,” Flowers says. “It has become a place where students encounter new ideas, where creativity thrives, and where artists engage meaningfully with our community and where the university and the Lehigh Valley come together.”
Mark Wilson wholeheartedly agrees. “We are a creative outlet for students, and we can help assume outcomes, and we can make sure that the students here at Lehigh have every opportunity to be successful when they graduate.”
Lasting Leadership
This latest gift comes at a time when Lehigh is elevating the arts and libraries by creating a new vice provost position for the university. Greg Reihman, vice provost for the arts and libraries, will oversee the Lehigh Libraries, LUAG, and Zoellner Arts Center.
“The message is quite clear,” Reihman says. “The university wants to strengthen and elevate the Arts. This gift puts wind in our sails. People like Marc Falato believe in the mission, believe in how important it is, and then take actions.”
"We are grateful for such highly engaged and generous leaders like Marc and Pun," says Carol Packard, vice president for development and alumni relations. "Their gift — one that will continue in perpetuity — will elevate the vibrant culture of the arts at Lehigh, while increasing our institutional momentum in the final sprint of the GO Beyond Campaign."
“Pun and I thought long and hard about how we wanted to support the arts at Lehigh,” Falato says of his lasting commitment to Lehigh and Zoellner. “But the more we talked about it, the more it became obvious to us that to make a large commitment to the university, and a large commitment to Zoellner, meant for us to secure leadership. Because you could have all the funding for programming that you want. You can have the best facilities, but unless you have the best leadership, the center is never going to fire on all cylinders.”
“Zoellner has come a very long way over the last almost 30 years,” he continues. “And we look forward to seeing what the next 30 bring.”
For Wilson, the next 30 look a lot clearer now. “We’re going to be on stronger ground because of [Falato’s] leadership, and because of [Falato’s] leadership gift. We're going to [...] continue to bring in world class music and to also bring in artistic excellence. We can also look at what we can do to really engage with the students here at Lehigh.”
