Randy and Deb Lehman

RANDY AND DEB LEHMAN
Randy Lehman ’82 is a wealth management advisor associated with Northwestern Mutual. As a business owner in the financial services industry, he works with individuals and businesses to determine and monitor their needs for future financial security, and to develop appropriate solutions. Randy is a member of the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors (NAIFA), the Society of Financial Service Professionals and the Fort Wayne Estate Planning Council. He earned the following professional designations: Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC) and Accredited Estate Planner (AEP). He and his wife, Deb, have been married for 31 years and reside in Fort Wayne, Ind. They have three grown children and one grandson and are active in their church, The Chapel. Deb is a registered nurse who works part-time at wellness clinics and has been heavily involved in breast cancer research.

Trustee and alumnus Randy Lehman ’82 and his wife, Deb, support Bethel College because they want to see its significance multiplied for generations to come.

Lehman knows firsthand what a difference a Bethel education can make. Though he came to study accounting and play basketball, an injury his freshman year left him unable to continue in the Bethel basketball program. His coach, Homer Drew, encouraged him to get involved elsewhere on campus. Lehman did.

He joined student government, participated as a member of a Bethel College men’s traveling quartet and Rotoract (part of the business department). He eventually landed an internship in wealth management with Northwestern Mutual, which would impact his career path and life.

Lehman is a business owner and wealth management advisor associated with Northwestern Mutual, a position he’s held in Fort Wayne, Ind., for 34 years. In that time, he’s focused on helping others, striving toward significance over success.

“The world’s view of success is fleeting and temporary. I learned the importance of significance … [focusing on] others … how to help others. It’s more of an outward expression. That’s what we do in my business,” he says. “I’m very thankful for the difference we’ve made in peoples’ lives.”

That’s also the reason Lehman has continued to invest in Bethel College, both as an alumnus and trustee.

“I wanted to be involved and support the impact that Bethel College could make with students today and future students. I wanted to play a role in the significance of a place like Bethel,” he says.

He is most excited about giving to the annual (or general scholarship) fund, which he calls the “lifeblood of the institution,” and encourages every alumnus to give toward it.

“Foundations want to know the level of participation with alumni. Whether you [can] give a little or give a lot … give! One person’s $100 gift to Bethel may be the reason a foundation gives $100,000,” he says.

Lehman has recently seen the impact of Bethel on the next generation through his nephew, a current student, athlete and accounting major, who is playing for “a coach who loves the Lord.”

The Lehmans give so that coaches, professors and staff members can continue to pour into students’ lives — students who will go on to be change-makers in the world.

“We all have time, talents and financial stewardship. Wherever you are in your life, you have the ability to give back,” Lehman says.

Learn more about how you can multiply Bethel’s influence at BethelCollege.edu/Multiply.