Interim President Gary G. White grew up in Logan County as the son of a Baptist minister.

He first attended Marshall University in 1968, but had to leave Marshall for personal reasons. He later returned to finish his degree in business.

He has had a career in business for more than 45 years, primarily in natural resources. He has most commonly been associated with the coal industry.

For more than 20 years he has been the CEO of International Industries, which is involved in coal, timber, manufacturing and real estate.

Despite his background in natural resources, White said he has always been involved in education.

“I’ve served in education my entire professional career,” White said. “It’s something that I feel very strongly about, and frankly, have a lot of experience in.”

In the early years, he served on various advisory boards and committees for vocational schools in West Virginia. Then, under Governor Gaston Caperton he was appointed to the West Virginia State Board of Education.

White came to Marshall University when the legislature created boards of governors for each of the institutions in the state. He was a member of the first Board of Governors at Marshall and served an interim term and two full terms as chairman.

He then went on to serve as a member of the Foundation Board, and served until he was asked to take his current position as interim president. Along with that position, in 2013 he was asked to serve as a member of the higher education policy commission where he served until he accepted interim president position.

White is thrilled to have been at a place in his life to accept the position of interim president.

“It’s very unique and I’m very pleased that I was in a position to accept it and certainly flattered that I was asked to do so,” White said.

White and his wife, Jo Ann, have continually contributed to Marshall and they look at his new positions as another way to do so.

“My wife and I have contributed rather substantially to Marshall University over the years, financially, but this is another way we can contribute,” White said. “That’s really how we look at what we are doing. We are making a contribution to Marshall University in a unique way that’s really not available very often.”

Along with his position at Marshall, White is a member of several large organizations and some public company boards.

He said that will be his final career move until retirement.

Britanie Morgan can be contacted at [email protected].