Robyn Hannigan, one of five presidential candidates nominated to succeed President Gilbert, presented herself to students and faculty. 

 Hannigan, provost of Clarkson University, spoke before Marshall students and faculty members in the Arthur Weisberg Family Applied Engineering Complex on Oct. 11. 

“I’ve moved through the ranks of faculty, I’ve moved through the ranks of administration, I understand higher education and if nothing else, I firmly believe that the president of a university must understand the business that they are serving,” Hannigan said. 

Hannigan said she was interested in developing Marshall as a nationally recognized university while improving profits with her communication and business skills. 

“Since I have been at Clarkson University, I have raised $50 million alone in philanthropic support,” Hannigan said. “I understand how to find talent, support talent, reward talent, and accelerate the excellence of everyone.” 

Hannigan also said she believes that her role as an entrepreneur would be valuable to the university given the dwindling financial support from the state. 

“I don’t believe we have any longer the luxury of looking to the state to support us and our goals,” Hannigan said. “You need someone who knows how to make decisive action that’s going to guarantee success over the coming years.” 

Hannigan is the first of five Marshall University presidential candidates to visit campus and take questions publicly regarding their proposed plans for the school.  

Following Hannigan, fellow presidential candidates: Brad Smith, Kathy Johnson, Bernard Arulanandam and Bret Danilowicz will also be speaking at the Arthur Weisberg Family applied Engineering Complex to speak about what they feel they bring to the table while being open to take public questions.