James Wade Gilley was unanimously elected president-elect of UT by the board of trustees on May 7, 1999, with a five-year contract and an initial annual salary of $250,000. He served as president from August 1, 1999 to June 1, 2001. Gilley earned the BS (1961), MS (1964) and PhD (1966) in civil engineering at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He originally enrolled at VPI to play football, but in his sophomore year, he decided to abandon football for civil engineering.
He was a Kellogg Fellow at the Institute for Higher Education at the University of Florida (1972) and did postdoctoral work at the Institute for Educational Management at Harvard (1975). He served as associate professor of engineering, VPI (1963–66); assistant to the president and director of engineering technology programs at Bluefield (West Virginia) State College (1966–67); president and professor of engineering, Wytheville Community College (1967–72); president of J. Sargeant Reynolds College in Richmond, Virginia (1976–78); secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Virginia (1978–82); acting state superintendent of schools for Virginia (1978); senior vice president and professor, George Mason University (1982–91); and president and professor of higher education and environmental engineering, Marshall University (1991–99). He authored 16 books and numerous articles in journals and newspapers. One of his books, Searching for Academic Excellence, was published in Japanese in 1990, and another, The Interactive University, was published in Chinese in 1991. He has also written a child’s book, Blackie’s Adventures, and novels. In fall 2000 he was initiated into membership in Tau Beta Phi Engineering Society, along with 31 UT engineering honor students.
He resigned from UT June 1, 2001, amidst allegations of improper behavior with an aide, Pamela Reed, and suggested that he would pursue a consulting contract with UT following his resignation. In late June Acting President Emerson Fly announced that Gilley would not be offered a consulting contract. The board provided a health benefits package for Gilley at its June meeting but did not allocate severance pay. Following his tenure at UT, he became a partner with the management consulting firm of Strategic Initiatives in Virginia.