MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Sources confirmed to MetroNews late Thursday afternoon that E. Gordon Gee will be named interim president at West Virginia University Friday.
The WVU Board of Governors made its choice in a closed door meeting Thursday but chose not to release the name until the state Higher Education Policy Commission approves the action at a meeting set for Friday morning.
There’s been considerable speculation pointing toward Gee, who most recently was the president of Ohio State University. He served as WVU’s president from 1981 to 1985. Before that, Gee was dean of the WVU College of Law.
BOG Chairman Jim Dailey II said after Thursday’s meeting he was very pleased with the results.
“We are absolutely thrilled with our selection to lead the state’s flagship, land-grant university during an important time in our history,” Dailey said in a prepared statement. “This individual is uniquely qualified to move WVU forward and continue the momentum we are enjoying. We are anxious for our new president to arrive in the new year, and hope that folks will get a chance to say `hello and welcome’ very soon.”
The BOG also agreed on a search process for the permanent president.
(Read proposed search procedure here.)
Dailey said there’s been a lot accomplished in the few weeks since current WVU President Jim Clements was introduced as the next president at Clemson University.
“I can’t express how happy I am with the spirited conversation, certainly thoughtful process, that we’ve gone through during these last four meetings,” Dailey said. “I really applaud each and every board member.”
State code requires personnel moves like the naming of an interim university president get final approval from the HEPC. The meeting is set for 9 a.m. Friday.
The BOG hopes to choose a permanent president on or about June 5, 2014. It hopes to have on-campus visits with the finalists the last week of April. The search committee will be chosen by the first week of January and the position will be nationally advertised by mid-January.