Dr. Jeffrey R. Docking began his work as the 17th President of Adrian College on July 1, 2005.
Since that time he has transformed the College from a struggling institution of fewer than 900 students to over 1,850 today. During this same period, he tripled the endowment to over $70 million and raised the academic profile of incoming students in nearly every important benchmark category. Under his leadership, Adrian College experienced a five-fold increase in applications and invested significant revenue in the local community including over $110 million in new on-campus construction, nearly 100 new jobs, increasing faculty positions from 63 to 83, and the purchasing power of over 650 additional first-year students each year.
This renaissance of Adrian College is the result of a unique business plan President Docking implemented and then wrote about in his popular book, “Crisis in Higher Education: A Plan to Save Small Liberal Arts Colleges in America.” Docking’s work has been covered extensively on television and in publications, including The Chronicle of Higher Education, FOX News, The Wall Street Journal, US News & World Report’s, America’s Best Colleges, The Toledo Blade, and dozens of other national and regional publications.
President Docking’s most recent book, “The College of the Future: Lowering Costs for Students by Fixing the Business Model of Higher Education,” lays out a bold plan to help America’s colleges flourish by working together to start dozens of new high-demand majors.
Docking is a veteran speaker and leader in higher education, having served as Chair of the Division III Presidents Council of the NCAA, the NCAA Board of Governors, and a member of the five-person NCAA Executive Committee. He has chaired the American Council on Education Fellows Board, the Michigan Colleges Alliance, the Michigan Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Tax Committee of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities. He has testified to the Education and Workforce Committee for the United States Congress.
Docking consults widely with colleges and universities throughout the country on enrollment growth, strategic planning, and leveraging new academic and athletic programs to grow enrollment and improve the financial sustainability of private colleges.
Docking holds a Ph.D. in Ethics from Boston University and wrote his dissertation on the life and thinking of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.. He holds a Masters of Divinity degree from Garrett-Evangelical Seminary in Evanston, Ill., and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Michigan State University.
Dr. Docking is married to Elizabeth Docking, and they have four children and five grandchildren.
