Understanding Finance through History

Story by Layla Warshaw
Image by Rob Gerth

Kyle Nisbet '25 loves learning with a historical perspective.

Kyle Nisbet '25

History is driven by financial decisions,” says Kyle Nisbet ’25 from Wilmington, DE. “From taxes that cause revolutionary wars to the stories of robber barons and the rise of banks in Europe, history intertwines with the present day and I’ve always been fascinated by that.” 

As a kid, Nisbet, whose major is in finance, with a minor in history, resold bags of chips and lemonade at tennis tournaments with his siblings. 

“I’d make $10 or $15 for the day, and it was the best $15 I’d ever make. I spent whole days just doing that,” Nisbet says. 

But as he grew older, he says he started considering where his money should go. In a bank? In investments? And how would he know where to invest it? 

Close to a decade later, Nisbet is still considering his financial future.

Learning is everything to Nisbet. When given free time, he finds himself deep in research. Periodically, he publishes his own financial reports. 

“I’ve enjoyed my whole journey in my life and at Lehigh, especially all my study of the interaction of history and finance, from spending weeks analyzing a company to seeing how a random legal case affects the financial markets.”

At Lehigh, Nisbet lets curiosity and passion guide him. He’s the president of the Investment Management Group, which invests real money for Lehigh. He’s worked in investment, portfolio management and private credit. Nisbet says he hopes to continue fostering connections that will bring his education, and eventually his career, to greater heights.