President, Marshall University
By Amanda Larch
Marshall University President Jerry Gilbert fell in love with West Virginia in 1973 and always hoped he would get to come back to the state. A Mississippi native, Gilbert was chosen as a high school senior to be one of two Mississippi delegates to the National Youth Science Camp in Pocahontas County that year.
“My month in the mountains of West Virginia was a tremendous educational and recreational experience for me,” says Gilbert. “Being around other intelligent high school seniors and having the experience of learning from world experts in science was truly motivational and validating of my career choice of engineering and science.”
With a background in biological engineering and after completing his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering at Duke University, Gilbert’s career path shifted to higher education. It was during his position as provost at Mississippi State University that Gilbert first thought about being a university president. He was working closely with Mississippi State’s president at the time, Mark Keenum, who Gilbert says was a role model and mentor.
In 2016, Gilbert was selected to be Marshall’s 37th president, which he says is a wonderful privilege. He is involved in all aspects of the university’s missions of education, research, service and outreach. During Gilbert’s tenure at Marshall, retention has increased 5%, research awards have more than doubled, and new programs and degrees have been created, including aviation, specialty agriculture, physician assistant and cybersecurity. Marshall has also been recognized for he first time as a Carnegie R2 doctoral institution and has expanded its economic outreach with the development of the Brad D. Smith Business Incubator. Gilbert has also worked with the university’s provost to create the John Marshall Leadership Fellows program, selecting faculty and staff members each year to participate.
“As a leader, you have an obligation to help identify and nurture leadership talent,” says Gilbert. “It has been a wonderful way to mentor emerging leaders at Marshall. Through these efforts, I have learned it is important to return the favor and give other people the chance to be mentored and nurtured, just as I was.”
While in Mississippi, Gilbert helped found the Starkville Foundation for Public Education, an organization in support of the public schools in the region. He was also a member of the board of directors of the Starkville Area Arts Council and taught elementary Sunday school in his local Presbyterian church. Today, Gilbert serves on the boards of the Fairfield Alliance, Fairfield Community Development Corporation, Huntington Area Development Council, Huntington Regional Chamber of Commerce and Huntington Museum of Art. At Marshall, he also started an annual service opportunity for his senior staff.
“We have worked with Habitat for Humanity, the local community activity center, the City of Huntington and other local groups to give back in a small way to the community and to form a bond among ourselves as colleagues in a non-work service setting,” he says.
Gilbert also gives to organizations making worthwhile contributions to society and to individuals.
“As a person of faith, I have always contributed to my church home because that is an important part of my life, and I give to institutions of higher learning because I know the value they bring to people and communities,” he says. “I also like to look for those groups that work with the less fortunate members of society. In addition, I owe a huge debt to the National Youth Science Camp and will always want to give back to that West Virginia organization that meant so much to me as a delegate in 1973.”
Gilbert and his wife, Leigh, are the parents of three children—Peter, Sallie and Caroline—and the proud grandparents of two grandchildren, Eliza and Roger. It seems Gilbert has passed on his love for West Virginia to his family, as one of his daughters made the decision to move to Charleston last year.
“West Virginia is a truly beautiful place,” says Gilbert. “My daughter, Sallie, was living in Washington, D.C. and visited us with her family during the pandemic. They loved the outdoors so much they moved here in September.”
1977 Graduated from Mississippi State University
1982 Graduated from Duke University
1982 Married wife, Leigh
1984 Son, Peter, was born
1987 Daughter, Sallie, was born
1988 Joined faculty at Mississippi State University
1990 Daughter, Caroline, was born
1996 Named department head at Mississippi State University
2008 Inducted as an Institute of Biological Engineering fellow
2010 Named provost and executive vice president of Mississippi State University
2014 Granddaughter, Eliza, was born
2016 Named Marshall University president
2019 Grandson, Roger, was born
2021 Named Huntington Chamber of Commerce Volunteer of the Year
