William Gilligan
Professor Emeritus, School of Communication
Dr. William (Bill) Gilligan, professor emeritus, returned to Emerson to serve as interim president after retiring from the position of vice president for information technology in 2020. He began his career at Emerson as an assistant professor in 1984.
Among his many achievements during his tenure, Gilligan facilitated the President’s Campus Task Force on Diversity in 2008 and worked closely with other senior administrators, architectural firm Elkus Manfredi, engineers, and technology vendors to design, build, and equip two professional-quality television studios in the new Tufte Performance and Production Center, as well as collaborated with technology vendors to design, build, and equip professional-quality Journalism facilities.
President Gilligan earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Boston College, an MS in teaching from the University of New Hampshire, and an EdD in mathematics from Boston University. He was treasurer of the ECC-AAUP union chapter from 1985 to 1987 and a member of the Faculty Council for many years and chair of Faculty Assembly from 1992 to 1994, as well as the Faculty Athletics Representative to the NCAA on multiple occasions (1991–1994, 2005–2007).