Key leadership posts to change hands at West Virginia University

Brooks was named interim dean of what was then called the School of Physical Education in 1992 and was named permanent dean the following year. During his tenure, Brooks facilitated the expansion of degree programs for undergraduate and graduate students, moving to a new building featuring innovative lab and classroom spaces and bringing faculty on board who have developed national research profiles in their fields.

“It has been a privilege to teach undergraduate and graduate classes and to serve as dean for the past 26 years,” Brooks said.

“I would like to thank the president’s office, office of the provost and fellow deans for your support and encouragement. I have had the honor of working with outstanding and gifted faculty, staff, students and alumni from the college. West Virginia University and the state of West Virginia changed and enhanced my life. I am proud to be a Mountaineer.”

Upon Brooks’ retirement, professor of sport, exercise and performance psychology and interim associate dean Jack Watson will serve as interim dean of the College of Physical Activity and Sport Sciences.

“Shifting into this responsibility means that I will be tasked with temporarily filling some very big shoes,” Watson said. “Because of the mentorship provided by Dean Brooks, I believe that I have developed the knowledge and skills necessary to help effectively guide the college during this transition.”

Meanwhile, after 19 years as dean of the Benjamin M. Statler College of Engineering and Mineral Resources, Gene Cilento will step down on June 30.

Cilento first came to WVU in 1979 as a faculty member in what was then known as the Department of Chemical Engineering and served as department chair from 1988-99. As chair, Cilento helped the department increase its research activity while maintaining strong academic programs, expanded scholarships and fellowships. He was also a member of the research faculty in the university’s School of Medicine’s Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology from 1978-2013.

During Cilento’s tenure as dean, enrollment in the engineering college has more than doubled to nearly 5,000 students, with 44 tenure-track faculty members hired since 2012. The college was also the recipient of WVU’s largest gift to date in 2012 — from alumnus Benjamin M. Statler and his wife Jo. The college now bares the Statler name.

“I look forward to getting back to focusing on some scholarship activities and interests that I have not been able to pursue after nearly 30 years in administration as a chair and dean,” Cilento said.

“We have enjoyed great success and growth in our enrollment, graduation and research programs and in our national reputation among our peer group over the nearly two decades of this new millennium. I know the Statler College will continue to grow in stature and be an integral part of WVU’s next strategic plan,” he said.

An interim dean has yet to be announced.

WVU Provost Joyce McConnell praised the contributions and capabilities of Brooks, Watson and Cilento in putting WVU on the map.

McConnell will be departing Morgantown in July to take the presidency at Colorado State University, which, like WVU, is a land grant university.

McConnell worked for WVU for 20 years with a dedication to improving gender equity, diversity and inclusion, along with Title IX education and compliance. Gee credited her with building up the WVU Law School into the institution it is today while serving as a positive role model for female Mountaineers everywhere.

“My decision to leave West Virginia and West Virginia University after more than 20 years of service to both the university and the state was not an easy one,” McConnell said regarding her departure, “but Colorado State University’s mission, values and character presented an irresistible opportunity to lead one of the nation’s great land grant universities into the future.”

Starting July 1, WVU’s new provost will by Maryanne Reed, dean of the Reed (no relation) College of Media.

She joined the faculty in 1993 after a career as a broadcast reporter and producer, with several award-winning documentaries and long-form stories for regional and national television to her credit.

She became dean of what would later be named the Reed College of Media in 2004. During her tenure, Reed oversaw a transformation of the college’s programs that emphasized the latest technology and methods for reporting the news, as well as broadening its public relations and general communications programs. The opening of the Media Innovation Center at Evansdale Crossing is an example of that.

“I am thrilled to be asked to serve as provost,” Reed said. “In my 15 years as dean, I’ve had the good fortune of working with several excellent provosts who have been leadership role models, including Joyce McConnell. I have a lot to live up to, but I’m up for the challenge.”

During the recent Board of Governors meeting, Gee reflected on the departure of these prominent Mountaineer leaders. While so many leaving at once might appear to be a sign of instability from the outside, he said that is hardly the case when looking at the years of work and legacies being left behind.

“Devotion like that to the university is not something you can buy,” he said. “It has to be nurtured.”