A member of the English Department faculty at Ashland University since 1987, Lehman is an authority in the area of literary nonfiction. He serves as co-editor of River Teeth: A Journal of Nonfiction Narrative and in 1997 published a book “Matters of Fact: Reading Nonfiction Over the Edge.”

Lehman holds a bachelor of arts degree in English from Eastern Mennonite University; a master of arts degree in English from Georgetown University, specializing in contemporary American fiction; and a Ph.D. in English from the Ohio State University, with emphases on nonfiction narrative, contemporary literature, and critical and media theory.

Promoted to assistant professor in 1988, associate professor in 1993 and a full professor in 1998, Lehman received the Edward and Louaine Taylor Teaching Award in 1998 and received the Academic Mentor Award in 1994 and 1995. He received the Stanley J. Kahrl Fellowship in Literary Manuscripts from Harvard University in 2000-01 to conduct research for his book, “John Reed and the Writing of Revolution.” Lehman, who was previously awarded a summer study grant and a study leave, was named a Fulbright Scholar to South Africa for the 2004-2005 academic year.

Formerly an award-winning journalist, from 1989 to 1996 Lehman served as adviser to AU’s student newspaper, The Collegian, directing the staff to seven first-place finishes in the American Scholastic Press Association competition.

In 2004, he was named the University’s fifth Trustees’ Professor, an academic honor awarded by the Board of Trustees to a professor who is recognized as an outstanding educator, researcher and campus leader. Lehman retired from Ashland University in December 2015.