A first-generation college graduate who rose to become a leader in higher education, published author and champion for underserved students now serves as the interim president of West Virginia University Potomac State College.
Chris Gilmer, former president of West Virginia University at Parkersburg, began his appointment at the Keyser Campus on July 1, 2022.
Gilmer has spent most of his career as an administrator and faculty member in the Historically Black College and University system as executive director of the Vicksburg, Mississippi Campus of Alcorn State University. He also served as vice president for Academic Affairs at Adams State University, the oldest federally designated Hispanic-Serving Institution in Colorado. Gilmer is founder of the National Institutes for Historically Underserved Students.
He was also chair of a network of technical assistance centers for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, serving all 50 states and other U.S. jurisdictions, and has consulted with the U.S. Department of Education’s regional educational labs and comprehensive technical assistance centers.
Gilmer’s degrees are in English, and he earned a Ph.D. in English from the University of Southern Mississippi. In addition to his role as interim campus president, Gilmer is also a tenured professor in the Division of Liberal Arts at PSC.