MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia University President Gordon Gee will deliver his final State of the University address Monday afternoon.
Gee retires next summer. He’ll give his final year vision for the university beginning at 3 p.m. at the WVU College of Law.
Gee focused on healing the wounds of academic transformation that was implemented to erase a $45 million structural budget deficit in last year’s State of the University Address. He also praised the accomplishments of the Rockefeller Neuroscience Center and the work within the R1 institution. Gee said WVU must increase four-year graduation rates, decrease student debt and maintain record-breaking freshman retention rates.
It was Oct. 6, 2014, 10 years ago when Gee delivered the first State of the University address of his second term as president, calling for an increase in enrollment and streamlining bureaucracy to “make this institution move like a ballerina, not an elephant dressed in a tutu.”
Gee has a career in higher education of more than 40 years that includes stops as president at WVU, University of Colorado, Brown University and Vanderbilt University. Gee’s first stint as president at WVU was from 1980-1985.
A search for his replacement is underway.
Story by Mike Nolting, WAJR