Our Presidents - Houston Cole

Houston Cole was born on Lookout Mountain in DeKalb County, Alabama. In 1922 he graduated from DeKalb County High School, where he was valedictorian of his class. He went on to attend the State Normal School at Jacksonville, where he earned his two-year certificate before transferring to the University of Alabama.

He received his Bachelor of Science degree in 1926 and then became superintendent of schools at Guntersville. He earned his master's degree from the University of Alabama and also studied at Columbia University. The University of Alabama bestowed upon Dr. Cole an honorary LL.D., and Jacksonville State University also gave him an honorary Litt.D.

Much of Cole's early career was spent in Tuscaloosa County, where he served a ten-year stint as principal of Tuscaloosa County High School followed by three years as Tuscaloosa City School superintendent. He was also assistant to President Richard Clarke Foster at the University of Alabama in 1939.

As a civic leader and educator, he received recognition and many awards, including Alabama Magazine's Man of the Year in 1942 and the same honor by the Anniston Star in 1966.

Sawyer (1983) writes that "many 'firsts' have been credited to President Houston Cole. Two big steps upward were expanding from the Jacksonville State Teachers College to the Jacksonville State College in 1957, and then to Jacksonville State University in 1966. Other firsts were the development of the Student Government Association, the ROTC program, the student center, the football stadium, the Teacher Hall of Fame, the nursing school, and the police academy. Rapidly increasing enrollment necessitated additional faculty members and changes in curriculum... The campus grew and new buildings seemed to appear overnight" (p. 85).

Twenty-four buildings and two annexes were built or begun under his administration, and the value of the physical plant increased by $35 million in terms of 1970 values. His first wife, Leone, helped plan the president's home but did not live there, as she died in August 1949. Cole remarried in 1952, and Martha Cole became First Lady of JSU. Dr. Cole passed away in 1996, and Mrs. Cole in 1999.