Stephen J. Kopp Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Marshall Names Three Finalists for President

Marshall University’s Presidential Search Committee has identified three finalists following a national search.

The university announced Wednesday that the three finalists are Mississippi State University Provost and Executive Vice President Jerome Gilbert, Oregon Institute of Technology President Christopher Maples and University of Southern Mississippi Professor and former Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs Denis Wiesenburg.

Each finalist will visit Marshall University next week.

After the visits are complete and feedback from the campus community has been reviewed, the search committee will present its recommendations to the Board of Governors for the final selection.

Gary White will continue serving as interim president until a new president is named. White was appointed on Dec. 29, 2014, following the death of President Stephen Kopp. The 63-year-old Kopp died on Dec. 17, 2014.

Marshall Releases Ad in Search for President

The official search is on for Marshall University’s next president.

The university says a 19-member search committee has released an advertisement for the position and will begin reviewing applications immediately. The committee has set an application deadline of April 10.

President Stephen J. Kopp died in December. Gary White is serving as interim president.

A new president is expected to be named before the start of the fall semester.

The advertisement can be found here.

Marshall Celebrates Life of Stephen J. Kopp

Members of the Marshall and Huntington community remembered President Stephen J. Kopp yesterday as a great leader and caring man.

Marshall University held a memorial service Tuesday for President Kopp who passed away suddenly on December 17^th. Speakers from all walks of Kopp’s life as leader of the University spoke about the kind of man Kopp was. His daughter Liz Bradley.

“Being President wasn’t just a job to him, it was his calling. He was a visionary true, but he was so much more. He not only had the ideas, he found a way to make them into reality,” Bradley said. “To lose someone with that kind of forward thinking, with that kind of propensity for the positive at such a young age is not simply a loss, it’s a tragedy.”

He was remembered for his academic prowess, his belief in what Marshall University could become and all the sides the public didn’t see, like his sense of humor and caring spirit. Menus Ketchum, a member of the State Supreme Court, was a member of the Marshall Board of Governors that hire Kopp in 2005. When Kopp arrived enrollment numbers were down and he set out to change that.

“He held meetings with high school juniors and seniors at every high school that he could get into throughout the state to tout Marshall University. He went to Parkersburg, he went to Moundsville, he went to Wheeling, he went to Clarksburg, he went to Martinsburg, he went to Charlestown and he recruited,” Ketchum said.

Kopp is credited with moving the University in a positive direction. Setting records for freshman enrollment during his time, developing new colleges like physical therapy and pharmacy and rejuvenating relations with the Huntington community. Kopp’s visions for the University became realities. Paul Hill is the Chancellor of the Higher Education Policy Commission and an Alum of Marshall University.

“As a graduate of Marshall University and someone that will forever hold this campus to my heart, I’m profoundly thankful for President Kopp and Jane, that they chose to make this their home and make a lasting difference in West Virginia and here at Marshall University,” Hill said.

Kopp was 63.

Flags Lowered on Day of Marshall President Memorial

West Virginia and U.S. flags at all state-owned facilities will be at half-staff in honor of Marshall University President Stephen Kopp.

Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin ordered the flags to be lowered from dawn to dusk on Tuesday.

Kopp died on Dec. 17 after being hospitalized for an illness. He was 63.

Marshall will hold a public memorial service for Kopp on Tuesday.

Tomblin says in a news release that Kopp’s leadership had a permanent and positive impact on both Marshall and the state.

Memorial Service Set for Stephen J. Kopp

Marshall University will hold a public memorial service for the late President Stephen Kopp next week.

Marshall says the service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Tuesday at the Cam Henderson Center Arena on the Huntington campus.

Classes will be cancelled from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. to allow students and faculty to attend the service.

Kopp died Dec. 17. He was 63.

Marshall says it will live stream the service at www.marshall.edu/it/livestream .

WVU, Marshall Presidents Meeting in Huntington

The presidents of Marshall and West Virginia universities are getting together to discuss the state’s higher education issues.

Marshall’s Stephen J. Kopp also will give WVU’s E. Gordon Gee a private tour of Marshall’s Huntington campus on Tuesday.

Gee is in his second stint as WVU’s president. In March, the Higher Education Policy Commission approved his appointment by the university’s Board of Governors. He also served as WVU’s president from 1981 to 1985.

Both universities are in the midst of long-term infrastructure improvements.

Marshall’s plan also focuses on upgrades in technology, student housing and student life. It includes landscaping enhancements and an overhaul of the Memorial Student Center.

WVU is in the midst of nearly $1 billion in construction projects on campus, its university health system and student housing.