HUNTINGTON, W.Va. — Five finalists to become Marshall University’s 38th president have been named by the university’s Board of Governors.
The presidential search committee presented the list of recommended finalists during a public meeting of the board’s executive committee Thursday. The finalists will be invited for campus visits as one of the final steps in choosing the person to replace current President Jerome Gilbert, who is leaving July 2022.
Board of Governors Chairman Patrick Farrell said during the meeting that there were 107 applicants to the position that were reviewed beginning on Labor Day.
“Marshall has an excellent reputation and our presidency is an attractive position,” Farrell said in a release. “The response was even greater than we perhaps anticipated and we are thrilled with the quality of the pool. Forty nominations were submitted directly to the presidential search website. In addition, our search firm received a large number of nominations and identified a broad base of prospective candidates nationally and internationally.
“After a great deal of deliberation, the search committee narrowed the field and conducted face-to-face interviews with an extraordinarily diverse pool of 16 semi-finalists. From those interviews, we selected the five finalists announced today. I look forward to welcoming them to campus in a couple of weeks.”
The presidential finalists are, in alphabetical order: Bernard Arulanandam, vice president for research, economic development, and knowledge enterprise, The University of Texas at San Antonio; Bret Danilowicz, provost and vice president for academic affairs, Florida Atlantic University; Robyn Hannigan, provost, Clarkson University; Kathy Johnson, executive vice chancellor and chief academic officer, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI); and Brad D. Smith, co-founder, Wing 2 Wing Foundation.
Each finalist will visit the Huntington and South Charleston campuses from Oct. 11-19 to meet with members of the university community. The schedule of candidate visits is as follows:
Dr. Robyn Hannigan: Oct. 11-12
Mr. Brad D. Smith: Oct. 12-13
Dr. Kathy Johnson: Oct. 13-14
Dr. Bernard Arulanandam: Oct. 14-15
Dr. Bret Danilowicz: Oct. 18-19
READ: Profiles on each candidate
The open meetings will be broadcast online at www.marshall.edu/it/livestream for the convenience of those unable to attend in person. Community receptions will be held on both the South Charleston and Huntington campuses for each candidate and will be open to the public. The schedule of community receptions and links to submit feedback about the candidate visits will be available on the presidential search website.
The five selections come after a summer of on-campus and virtual listening sessions with Marshall students, faculty, staff, donors, and community, gathering input on the qualities they want to see in the next leader. Farrell said more than 400 people attended at least one of those meetings.
According to Farrell, 40 candidates were nominated online on the search’s webpage and there were 54 comment/feedback forms filled out on the site.
The presidential profile developed by the listening tour included the person having the ability to act as a spokesperson for the university, ability to appreciate and maintain history and culture of Marshall, ability to manage physical resources of a complex organization, being an authentic and engaging individual, the ability to work with a governing board, demonstrate understanding of the importance of equality and diversity, a clear track record of innovation of entrepreneurship accomplishments, and understanding and commitment to the role of athletics at Marshall.
After reviewing the feedback from the finalists’ campus visits, the Board of Governors is expected to make its final selection at the regularly scheduled board meeting on Oct. 28, Farrell stated.
Farrell said the new president’s start date will be determined by their individual circumstances, and will be announced at the conclusion of contract negotiations.
Gilbert announced in April that he would not seek a contract extension at the end of his current term in 2022.