The program will begin at 2 p.m. in the Joan C. Edwards Performing Arts Center, 1655 Fifth Ave., Huntington.
Speakers will include Board of Governors Chairman Michael G. Sellards, Interim President Gary G. White, representatives of the student body and Provost Gayle L. Ormiston. Gilbert also will make brief remarks.
A reception for Gilbert and his wife, Leigh, will be held in the lobby following the program.
Sellards said, “Dr. Gilbert’s presidency promises to be an exciting new chapter for Marshall University. His leadership and vision are just what we need to propel us forward to become an even greater university. The Board of Governors, students, faculty and staff look forward to welcoming him and Leigh to the Marshall family on Dec. 2. I invite the entire community to come out and join us.”
Gilbert was named president on Oct. 20 and will assume the presidency in January 2016.
A Mississippi native with a background in biomedical engineering, Gilbert has served since 2010 as provost and executive vice president of Mississippi State University. Prior to that, he was the university’s associate provost and associate vice president for academic affairs for six years. Previous roles include head of the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering and coordinator for the biomedical engineering graduate program in the Bagley College of Engineering.
Gilbert attained the rank of professor in 1993 after joining the Mississippi State faculty in 1988 as associate professor. From 1989-2005, he also served as adjunct clinical assistant professor of orthopaedic surgery (research) for the University of Mississippi Medical Center. Since 2005, he has been a research affiliate with the Institute of Neurocognitive Science and Technology at Mississippi State. He was among the first class of Mississippi State’s honors faculty in the Shackouls Honors College.
He held previous academic appointments at Duke University, North Carolina State University and University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) School of Medicine.
In 2014, Gilbert was elected to the inaugural board of directors of the Association of Chief Academic Officers. A member of the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, he also was inducted in the inaugural class of Fellows of the Institute of Biological Engineering, an organization of which he served as president in 2005.
He has a bachelor’s degree in biological engineering from Mississippi State and a doctorate in biomedical engineering from Duke.
The Gilberts are the parents of three grown children. They have one granddaughter.
The Dec. 2 event and reception are open to the community.
For more information, call 304-696-3958 or e-mail ucomm@marshall.edu.