Jeffrey R. Docking is president of

Adrian College Adrian College is a Private college, private United Methodist Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Adrian, Michigan. The college offers bachelor's degrees in 92 academic majors and programs. The 100 acre (0.40&nbs ...

. He has held that position since 2005. He previously worked as a senior administrator and men's ice hockey coach at

Washington & Jefferson College Washington & Jefferson College (W&J College or W&J) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Washington, Pennsylvania, United States. The college traces its origin to three Presbyterian m ...

Biography

Docking grew up in

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, including a portion of time beginning in 2nd grade when his family lived in the Michigan State University dormitories while his father completed doctoral studies. During that time, he became a fan of the

Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey The Michigan State Spartans men's ice hockey team is the college ice hockey team that represents Michigan State University (MSU). The team plays at the Munn Ice Arena in East Lansing, Michigan, on the MSU campus. The Spartans have won the NCAA ...

and worked as a stick boy. Upon completion of his studies, Docking's father became deputy superintendent of the East Lansing Public Schools. Following undergraduate studies at

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

, Docking worked for a short time as a reporter for WFSL-TV in

Lansing, Michigan Lansing () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Michigan. The most populous city in Ingham County, Michigan, Ingham County, parts of the city extend into Eaton County, Michigan, Eaton County and nort ...

, covering the

Michigan State Capitol The Michigan State Capitol is the building that houses the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is in the portion of the List of U.S. state capitals, state capital of Lansing, Michigan, Lansing which lies in In ...

. He left that position to attend Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, where he earned a M.Div degree. He then attended

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a Private university, private research university in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. BU was founded in 1839 by a group of Boston Methodism, Methodists with its original campus in Newbury (town), Vermont, Newbur ...

to earn a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in social ethics. To pay the bills during that time, he worked as a residence hall director for the Boston University dormitories. He and his wife Elizabeth have four children, two of whom were born during the six years that the family lived in the Boston University dormitories.

Washington & Jefferson College

During his career at

Washington, Pennsylvania Washington, also known as Little Washington to distinguish it from the District of Columbia, is a city in Washington County, Pennsylvania, United States, and its county seat. The population was 13,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

, Docking served as dean of students. President Brian C. Mitchell made him vice president and special assistant to the president. In that position, he was a member of the "President's Cabinet" and was tasked with improving relations between the City of Washington and the college. He also served as coach of the Washington & Jefferson men's ice hockey team for a time, leading the program to replace the old Washington Park ice rink with a new facility that was supposed to have been supported by municipal bonds from the city of Washington. In 2004, he completed a fellowship at

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

where he shadowed president

Jared Cohon Jared Leigh Cohon (October 7, 1947 – March 16, 2024) was an American academic administrator who served as the eighth president of Carnegie Mellon University beginning in 1997 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. , he was a University ...

for a year.

Adrian College

Docking became the 17th president of

in July 2005 He sought to improve the college's precarious financial situation by doubling the endowment. He proposed to improve the

town and gown Town and gown are two distinct communities of a college town, university town; 'town' being the non-academic population and 'gown' Metonymy, metonymically being the university community, especially in ancient seats of learning such as Universit ...

relationship by holding a "coffee hour" with the president, developing classes for senior citizens, and encouraging student internships in the community. Early in his tenure, he introduced a mandatory four-year residency for all students "to raise funds," a marked departure from previous policies.''The College World'', Vol. 122, Issue 13.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Docking, Jeffrey Living people Michigan State University alumni People from Ingham County, Michigan Garrett–Evangelical Theological Seminary alumni Boston University Graduate School of Arts & Sciences alumni American television journalists Washington & Jefferson Presidents coaches College men's ice hockey coaches in the United States 1961 births American male journalists