Also, $1.5 million will go to an endowment fund. With the fund, the foundation launches a challenge grant program to alumni and friends, on a “two dollars for one” basis, which could raise an additional $3 million in matching gifts.

If the $1.5 million matching challenge succeeds in attracting another $3 million, then the Holliday Foundation's overall $5 million gift could raise a total of $8 million in support of the ire@l program.

“I received an outstanding education at Lehigh, which is one of the nation's great universities. It was the initial foundation for my professional success,” Holliday said. “The purpose of this gift is to recognize that and to enhance a program that will produce future business leaders.”

Lehigh's president, Alice P. Gast, said Holliday already has given extensive help to undergraduates studying real estate, by sharing his expertise, presenting case studies of New York commercial properties to students, and hiring graduates.

Tara Stacom, executive vice chairman of Cushman & Wakefield, has also been a driving force behind creation of the program, according to Holliday. She has created the Stacom Family Speaker Series in connection with the effort.

Lehigh undergraduates will be able to pursue the ire@l academic minor, regardless of their major. Stephen Thode, director of the Murray H. Goodman Center for Real Estate Studies, said this allows true “cross-boundary experience” that reflects the industry's everyday collaboration among diverse professionals.

“This is what sets Lehigh's program apart from the rest,” Thode said. Thode was Holliday's professor when the executive was an undergraduate.

Students in the ire@l program spend more than half their time learning from industry professionals in practicums, internships, field laboratories, or completing community service. The new director will be the main connection with the real estate community, responsible for nurturing relationships that will expand student experiences.

First-hand experience will be gained through projects in adaptive reuse and land redevelopment in areas such as South Bethlehem and the two former Bethlehem Steel research facilities on Lehigh's Mountaintop campus.

Future plans call for establishing an international real estate component, with study-abroad internships.