Mary Frances Schurtz-Leon
Candidate Manager, Residence Life Director, Guide
610-758-6887
mfs2@lehigh.edu

Mary Frances Schurtz-Leon, a licensed attorney, practiced civil and criminal law in both New York and California, specializing in immigration law.  Prior to joining the staff at the Iacocca Institute where she serves at Candidate Manager, Guide and Facilitator, she worked in hospital administration for a major oil company in the Middle East, where she designed and implemented a system-wide Self-Assessment Program.

Mary Frances brings over thirty years teaching experience.  She has conducted seminars and workshops in English as A Second Language (ESL), Citizenship Preparation, Legal Counseling Techniques, Occupational Spanish, Public Speaking, Assertiveness Training, Effective Listening, Conflict Management and Negotiating Skills throughout the United States and internationally.  Her extensive travels have afforded her many culturally diverse experiences.

Mary Frances joined the Iacocca Institute in the summer of 1998.  In October 1998, she joined the Lehigh University staff full-time as the Candidate Manager for the Global Village program. She began recruiting for the Global Village program in Latin and South America in 2000.  In September 2000, Mary Frances added the responsibility of Global Village Alumni Relations to her duties. In April, she also assumed the role of International Student Candidate Manager for the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Global Entrepreneurism here at Lehigh University.

Mary Frances graduated summa cum laude from Loyola College in Baltimore Maryland in 1973 with a Bachelors of Art in Modern Languages.  After a year with VISTA (Volunteers In Service to America) in El Paso, Texas, Mary Frances began her legal training at St. John’s University School of Law in New York, earning her Juris Doctor degree in 1977.  After graduation, she supervised four satellite immigration assistance offices for the Brooklyn Diocese Catholic Migration Office for a year before marrying and moving to California.  In California, Mary Frances was a general partner in a Santa Monica law firm, handling both civil and criminal litigation.  She also served as the Supervising Attorney of the Immigration Legal Assistance Project of the Los Angeles Bar Association, before moving to Saudi Arabia in 1980.