E. Gordon Gee, President Emeritus of The Ohio State University and former president of West Virginia University, is coming back to WVU to be its interim president.
Gee will serve in the role until a permanent president is in place to succeed him. He will take an unpaid leave of absence from Ohio State while he serves in this new role.
Gee is expected to fully participate in the active life of a university president while interim. He will live in Blaney House.
Gee’s annual salary will be $450,000.
WVU President James Clements is leaving his post to take the same job at the University of Clemson. Clements has been at WVU since June 2009.
WVU’s Board of Governors hopes to hire a full-time president next June. Gee previously worked at the WVU College of Law, and he was the university’s president from 1981 to 1985.
“E. Gordon Gee’s long and distinguished record in higher education began at WVU’s College of Law in 1979 and in 1981 as the youngest university president in the country. There are many great things on the horizon at our state’s land-grant institution. I’m confident Gee will provide the leadership skills necessary to maintain the University’s positive momentum,” said Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin in a statement.
Gee made headlines earlier this year, when he made remarks about Roman Catholics that were deemed controversial by many. He announced his retirement from Ohio State University soon after.