Torie Jackson

PARKERSBURG –West Virginia University at Parkersburg has named an interim president who will take over when President Chris Gilmer leaves this summer.

During a special meeting of the school’s Board of Governors on Tuesday, the board announced the appointment of Torie Jackson to serve as interim president of WVU-P, starting July 1, said Steven Hardman, Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Jackson has served WVU-P in a variety of leadership roles since 2004 and is an alumna of the institution.

“I am both honored and humbled to be chosen to lead the institution that built me,” Jackson said. “With a true love for WVU-P, we will move forward with a focus on student success and continue to establish this college as a true community partner.

“We are a place where big dreams are welcomed and accomplished, and we will continue to be WVU Parkersburg Proud.”

Currently, Jackson serves as Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President for Institutional Advancement, President and CEO of the WVU at Parkersburg Foundation, and as an Associate Professor of Communication. In Jackson’s current role, she is second in charge at the college and assumes the day-to-day managerial role as designated by Gilmer in his absence.

Gilmer recently announced his resignation as he will assume a similar leadership role at West Virginia University Potomac State College.

“This is a period of amazing growth in new programs and partnerships at WVU-P, and we are confident that Dr. Jackson is the right person to keep the positive momentum moving forward,” Hardman said. “She is a valued member of Dr. Gilmer’s leadership team and is the person most closely involved in his major leadership decisions and in planning and implementing the exciting direction the college is going.

“She has also taken the leadership role in rebranding and marketing WVU-P with great success.”

Hardman went on to discuss Gilmer’s strong positive presence at WVU-P and in the community and how he will be missed and how Jackson will continue that positivity, in close consultation with the board, during this period of interim leadership.

“The board believes appointing a strong internal candidate with a lifetime of deep roots in this community and at WVU-P will serve the institution well during transition, and Dr. Jackson has the confidence of the Board,” Hardman added.

According to Hardman, Jackson’s interim appointment must now be approved by the West Virginia Community and Technical College System, and further details of her contract will not be made public at this time pending state approval. The interim candidate will be allowed to be a candidate for the permanent presidency of WVU-P, and the process for hiring a permanent president will be announced by the board at a later date.

Prior to her current leadership roles, Jackson served as Dean of Public Affairs and Experiential Learning; Chair of the Division of Humanities, Fine Arts, and Social Sciences; and Director of the Center for Teaching and Learning at WVU-P. She has been elected by her peers to serve as Chair of the Faculty Senate and as the faculty member of the Board of Governors.

Active in the community outside of WVU-P, she is President of the Ritchie County Board of Education, an Executive Committee Member of the West Virginia School Board Association, a Legislative Steering Committee Member of the West Virginia School Board Association, Past President of the Creed Collins Elementary School Parent Teachers Organization, a member of the West Virginia Press Association, Delta Kappa Gamma, and an active leader and volunteer in church and civic activities.

A first-generation college student, Jackson holds an earned doctoral degree in higher education administration (Ed.D.) from West Virginia University, a master’s degree in organizational communication from WVU, and bachelor’s and associate degrees in journalism. Her first college degree was an associate degree in journalism from WVU-P.

Additionally, she holds a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Educational Leadership from Salem International University and is licensed to serve as a school principal, district supervisor, or district superintendent. Her most recent educational credential is a Certificate of Current Affairs Fundraising in Crisis Leadership from the prestigious Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy.

Prior to her career in higher education, Jackson worked her way through college as a newspaper reporter and editor in the Mid-Ohio Valley. She was recently selected by WV Executive magazine as one of West Virginia’s Young Guns Class of 2021 members and has been recognized by her peers with the Bernard P. McDonough Faculty of the Year Award at WVU-P in 2015 and as Employee of the Year at WVU-P in 2014.

Under her leadership, the marketing division at WVU-P has won 23 national marketing awards in the past three years, the most of any college or university in West Virginia.

She is married to Todd Jackson, a deputy sheriff in Ritchie County, and they reside in Ritchie County with their three sons, Creed, Heath, and Ruger.