Kelly Coke, Ed.D.

age: 39 | Director of Programs for Texas A&M University-Texarkana at Northeast Texas Community College and Paris Junior College; Instructor of Leadership Studies and Program Coordinator for Bachelor of General Studies

Dr. Kelly Coke helps empower community college students in rural Northeast Texas who want to complete their bachelor’s degree or graduate degree by helping remove higher educational barriers they may face.  “For my instructional role, I help students discover their leadership skills and help unlock their leadership potential by learning about leadership models and theories,” she explains.  “As higher education practitioners in this region of Texas, we have many laborious duties that are pertinent; however, it is all about student success that will ultimately change lives in Northeast Texas.”

Receiving a 12 Under 12 Young Alumni Spotlight Award in 2016 from Texas A&M University Association of Former Students was Kelly’s greatest professional achievement. This award recognizes Aggies who have graduated within the past 12 years for their outstanding accomplishments in business, civic service, and philanthropy, and for representing Texas A&M’s core values of excellence, integrity, loyalty, respect, and self-service. Another very proud time for Kelly was receiving the Texas A&M University System Teaching Award when she first started teaching in higher education.

Kelly stays very active on numerous boards, councils, organizations, and committees.  She is currently a board member on the Texas Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy and the Northeast Texas Communities in Schools.  She serves as the education committee chair and an ex-officio member of the board of directors for the Mount Pleasant/Titus County Chamber of Commerce.  She also serves as the chair for the Northeast Texas Community College and Texas A&M University-Texarkana Partnership Advisory Councils and the Northeast Texas Communities in Schools Sock Drive and Back to School Stuff the Bus Campaign with TAMUT at NTCC.  A member of the TAMUT Institutional Review Board, Kelly also serves as an EL Cadre member for QEP and the TAMUT steering committee for Connect 360 – The Eagle Experience.  

Active and energetic, Kelly looks forward to the future.  She plans to be a community college administrator who serves students and the community and a higher education professor who prepares a leader for higher education leadership roles.     

Best piece of advice:

“It is not about how far you rise, but how you bounce back when you fall.” — Mike Coke, Kelly’s father

Name something about you that very few people know:

“I interned for former First Lady, Mrs. Laura Bush, and my grandmother, Shirley, was one of the first hospital female administrators for the state of Arkansas in the 1980s. I am also a former barrel racer, rodeo queen, and former class agent for my Texas A&M class.”