HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Dr. Jaime Taylor has only been at Marshall University for three years, but for him, he said it has brought him a lifetime of memories that he can take wherever he goes.
Life is taking Taylor, Marshall’s Provost and Senior Vice President of Academic Affairs, to Texas where he is set to become president at Lamar University. His final day in Huntington is July 9 and his first day as president of the Beaumont, Texas institution is July 12.
Taylor joined Marshall on July 1, 2018, from Austin Peay University in Clarksville, Tennessee where he served as dean since 2008, except for 2013-15, when he served as the institution’s interim provost and vice president for academic affairs.
Taylor told MetroNews he will not forget the family atmosphere of the Huntington institution and how accepting Marshall was to him and his wife Stacy.
“The primary thing I will remember is just how passionate everyone is about Marshall University. From the town of Huntington to Marshall’s alums, faculty and staff. Once you are at Marshall, everybody just associates themselves with Marshall,” Taylor said.
Taylor’s time at Marshall has been marked by an all-time high freshman retention rate and new programs in aviation and a doctorate in business administration.
He credits the leadership of the university, including President Jerome Gilbert, for “taking things to the next level” while he was at Marshall. He said Gilbert has become his friend and mentor.
“President (Jerome) Gilbert, over the last three years, has been a good mentor. He has helped me to think about the things that I would need to know if I were to become a president. I could not have worked with a better individual who has helped mentor me,” Taylor said.
Gilbert said of Taylor’s move last week, “Provost Taylor’s work at Marshall has been exceptional, and we have made great progress as a university with him at the helm of academic affairs. Jaime has been a great colleague to me, and I will miss him, as will many others at the university. I will be working quickly to name an interim provost in the next couple of weeks to ensure a seamless transition.”
Taylor said he went to school to be a physicist and wanted to become a research scientist up until five years ago. He said then, that’s when he realized how influential the role of a president at a university was. He felt like in that role, he could make the largest impact on students.
“When you’re the president, everything falls on your shoulders. It’s a huge responsibility. At the same time, you have the opportunity to get a lot of things done and come together as a team. That’s the part I am really looking forward to,” Taylor told MetroNews.
Taylor, who has a background in mathematics and computational physics, held a faculty appointment at Austin Peay since 1996, when he joined the university with a B.S. in physics from Austin Peay (1990), and an M.S. (1991) and a Ph.D. (1995) in engineering science from the University of Tennessee Space Institute.
Taylor was the sole finalist for the position to become the 16th president in Lamar history.
Lamar, a member of The Texas State University System, is home to more than 17,000 students. The university is situated in the hotbed of the oil industry and just 30 miles north of the Gulf of Mexico and 80 miles east of Houston.
Taylor said he is interested in continuing Lamar’s tradition of helping students be successful after graduation and honing workforce skills. He also wants to improve the on-campus rates for students and student success.
“I’ll be listening a lot. Once I begin to meet people I want to learn about the university, its people and the state of Texas,” he said.
Taylor has many family members in the Weirton area. Taylor and his wife Stacy have two children, Makenzie and Jordan.