School of Education (SOE) graduate Jay Box, EdD ’94, has been named president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS). The organization’s board of regents voted unanimously to choose Box for the position on Nov. 16. Box has been serving as chancellor of the Kentucky system since 2009 — providing system-wide leadership for academic affairs, economic development, work force training, and research and policy analysis. He will begin his presidency on Jan. 16, succeeding Dr. Michael B. McCall, KCTCS’s first and only president.

Dr. Robert Cloud, SOE professor of higher education and chair of the Department of Educational Administration, was excited to hear the news about his former doctoral student.

“Dr. Box has earned this leadership position through outstanding performance at all levels, hard work, a servant-leader style, exemplary stewardship of public resources, and sincere care for students and colleagues,” Cloud said.

Box received his associate’s degree from Howard College, his BA from Southwest Texas State University, an MA from Texas Tech University and his doctorate in educational administration from Baylor in 1994.

“From the day I started in the Baylor doctoral program, I was encouraged to set high expectations,” Box said. “My original goal was to finish my doctorate and become a dean, but my Baylor instructors would not let me think so small. They always made me think that I had a calling to leadership.”

While at Baylor, Box held himself up to high standards and was always there when you needed him, Cloud said.

Box has held multiple leadership positions, serving as a vice president of instruction at McLennan Community College in Waco and later as president of Hazard Community College in Kentucky.

“I am honored and humbled to be selected as the next president of the Kentucky Community and Technical College System and am also thankful for my Baylor education and the support and encouragement of the Baylor family over the years,” Box said.

—Kate McGuire