Robert C.

Gillespie ‘64
Leonard C. Nelson College of Engineering

Dr. Robert C. Gillespie graduated from West Virginia Tech in 1964, with a Bachelor of
Science in Electrical Engineering. He earned his Master of Science and his Ph.D. in
Electrical Engineering from West Virginia University. He came back to Tech in 1965 as
chair and instructor of Electrical Engineering Technology. Prior to becoming President of
West Virginia Tech in 1986, he served as the first chairman of Computer Science, the first
Director of Information Technology, and Chairman of the Department of Electrical
Engineering and Dean of the School of Engineering. Dr. Gillespie served as President
until 1992 and has since been named “President and Professor Emeritus of Electrical
Engineering” at WVU Tech. In 1995, Dr. Gillespie was named to the Academy of
Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at West Virginia University.

Dr. Gillespie is a registered professional engineer (retired) in West Virginia with the
classification electrical. He has been a consultant in computer control with Volkswagen of
America, Globe Metallurgical, Standard Instrumentation, and Eagle Research
Corporation. As a consultant with Kaman Sciences, Dr. Gillespie worked with the
Electronic Warfare Group at the Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, DC with
assignments in artificial intelligence, particularly in genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic, and
neural networks. Dr. Gillespie’s continuing consulting efforts have been in assisting the
development of NSF, RII, and MSP proposals for West Virginia, as well as consulting in
the preparation of proposals with The Implementation Group (TIG) in Washington, DC.
Since 2002, his work has been on behalf of TIG clients in New York, Florida, Hawaii, the
Virgin Islands, Nebraska, Kansas, Louisiana, West Virginia and others. He has
participated as a part of the Southern Growth Policies Board (SGPB) trade and
humanitarian mission to Nicaragua and Honduras in 2001. He also served as a senior
advisor for that group during the preparation of Invented Here: Transforming the
Southern Economy — The 2001 Report on the Future of the South.

Dr. Gillespie was the Deputy Director, Governor’s Office of Technology from 1996-
1999. In this capacity, he was a representative of the Governor’s Office regarding all
statewide higher education initiatives relating to aspects of distance education, and the
integration of technology into the educational process; and also involved representing
WV higher education on the Southern Regional Education Board’s Technology
Cooperative, a group of fifteen southern states promoting shared solutions for the
application and integration of technology in higher education. With the Governor’s
Office and the SGPB, Bob participated in trade missions to England, Scotland, and
Germany. He led an education and technology delegation to the Gifu Prefecture in Japan,
introducing opportunities for high technology and education exchanges between the
Prefecture and West Virginia.

Dr. Gillespie has been involved with WV EPSCoR for over a decade. He began as a
member of the WV State EPSCoR Committee, a position he held for over a decade until
he left West Virginia Institute of Technology to work in the Governor’s Office of
Technology. Shortly after his retirement, he was asked to return to West Virginia and
serve as the Interim Director of WV EPSCoR. Dr. Gillespie has continued to serve WV
EPSCoR as a Senior Advisor in Education and Research. He also has served on the
Monitoring and Assessment Panel for Hawaii EPSCoR’s Research Investment
Improvement efforts since 1993.