Host Dr. Carolyn Bailey Lewis speaks with Dr. Marie Foster Gnage, the president of West Virginia University of Parkersburg. Dr. Gnage discusses her role as the first woman president of WVU-Parkersburg, her role in promoting diversity, and her publications.
Marie Foster Gnage became the sixth president of West Virginia University at Parkersburg in July of 2004.
In addition to serving as president of the Parkersburg campus, she also is a regional vice president of West Virginia University.
Dr. Gnage has several publications including “Voice, Mind, Self: Mother and Daughter Relationships in Amy Tan’s Fiction,” in Women of Color, UP Press (Fall 1996), A Bio-bibliography of Southern Black Creative Writers, 1829 – 1953, Greenwood Press, Inc., (1988), and “Reconfiguring Self: A Matter of Place in Selected Novels by Paul Marshall,” in Middle Passages and the Healing Place of History: Migration and Identity in Black Women’s Literature, The Ohio University Press (2006).
Dr. Gnage holds a bachelor's degree in English from Alcorn A&M College, Lorman, Miss.; a master's degree in English from University of Southwestern Louisiana, and doctoral degree in English (American Literature) from The Florida State University.
Dr. Gnage is the first African-American female to be appointed president of a college or university in West Virginia. She was presented with the Empowerment Inspiration Award given by the West Virginia Minority Business Development Center to individuals for their significant achievements/accomplishments, inspiring others by example and guidance, and continuing to excel in personal and professional goals and objectives, and the Women of Excellence Award for Trail Blazing awarded by Altrusa International, Inc. to women that have made inroads in their careers and/or community that have never be done before.
