Faculty

Jon Eckert, EdD, is Professor of Educational Leadership and the Lynda and Robert Copple Endowed Chair in Christian School Leadership. Dr. Eckert came to Baylor in 2019 with more than two decades of experience in education. He taught and coached intermediate and middle school students outside of Chicago and Nashville for 12 years. After completing his doctorate at Vanderbilt University in 2008, he was selected as a Teaching Ambassador Fellow at the U.S. Department of Education, where he worked in both the Bush and Obama administrations on teaching quality issues. For the past 10 years, he has prepared teachers at Wheaton College.

His research interests include collective leadership, teaching effectiveness, evaluation and strategic compensation to enhance that effectiveness, and science education. Over the past decade, he has written and worked on grants of more than $300 million with schools and districts across the U.S. Dr. Eckert has conducted research for the U.S. Department of Education, the Carnegie Foundation, the National Network of State Teachers of the Year, the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching, and the Center for Teaching Quality.

He is the author of The Novice Advantage: Fearless Practice for Every Teacher (Corwin, 2016) and Leading Together: Teachers and Principals Improving Student Outcomes (Corwin, 2018), book chapters, numerous peer-reviewed articles in journals such as Educational Administration Quarterly, Professional Development in Education, and Education Policy Analysis Archives, and practitioner publications such as Education Week and Phi Delta Kappan. He has written and presented white papers on Capitol Hill and the National Press Club and has been invited to present all over the U.S. and as far away as Muscat, Oman, at a G8-Broader Middle East Summit for education ministers.

Dr. Bill Sterrett serves as Department Chair of Educational Leadership and the Co-Executive Director of the Center for School Leadership at Baylor University. Before joining Baylor in 2022, Sterrett served as Associate Dean and Professor at the University of North Carolina Wilmington. Prior to Sterrett’s 12-year tenure at UNCW, he was a principal and teacher in Charlottesville, Virginia. Sterrett earned his undergraduate degree at Asbury University in Wilmore, Kentucky, where he studied middle grades education and was a member of the men's basketball team. He then pursued his M.Ed. and Ph.D. at the University of Virginia, studying educational administration. He received the Milken National Educator award as a Title I school principal in Charlottesville, and has since helped present the award to educators in Virginia, North Carolina, and in schools throughout Texas.

Sterrett’s research focuses on school improvement, including sustainable green schools and districts; digital principals and technology-savvy superintendents; and collaborative school leadership. Sterrett has written ASCD books on school leadership and articles in journals such as the Journal of Educational Administration, the Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership, and Educational Administration Quarterly. Sterrett collaboratively led an effort involving three schools that received the U.S. Department of Education Green Ribbon School designation. As Lead Principal Investigator of the U.S. State Department grant IDEA-STEM, Sterrett traveled with an interdisciplinary team of faculty and doctoral students to Lahore, Pakistan, to engage in STEM-focused professional development. He served on an NSF-sponsored grant effort connecting first-year university STEM students with a K-8 partner school to foster STEM learning and engagement. Dr. Sterrett has co-authored publications with numerous students at the undergraduate, Master’s, and doctoral levels on topics including principal instructional leadership, sustainability leadership, PDS partnership efforts, student-athlete perspectives, and school improvement.

Dr. Herb Cox is Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, teaching School Leadership. In 2021, Dr. Cox retired from 29 years of service in public education as a teacher, coach, assistant principal, and most recently as a principal. His first 12 years of service were as a teacher and a coach. His last 17 years were spent as an administrator, with the past 9 years as Principal of Midway Middle School in Midway ISD in Hewitt, Texas.

Dr. Cox graduated from Baylor with a B.S. in Secondary Education in 1979 and then graduated again in 2008 with his Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction. Cox earned his Master’s degree from the University of North Texas in 2005. Dr. Cox served as a Board member for the Texas Association of Secondary School Principals, as well as an Executive Officer for TASSP. He was President of TASSP in 2018-2019. He has co-authored and published articles concerning the impact of Professional Development Schools as partners with Baylor University.

His interest is in growing aspiring administrators who will lead in both the public and private school systems with a Christian emphasis and a focus on serving all of God’s children. Teaching at Baylor was a long-time dream of Dr. Cox, and his appointment in 2021 was his first opportunity to serve in higher education.

Angela Urick, Ed.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Leadership in the School of Education at Baylor University. Prior to coming to Baylor, she was a tenured Associate Professor and Director of the Center for Educational Development and Research (CEDaR) at the University of Oklahoma. In her academic program, she trains aspiring K-12 leaders as well as education administrators in other government, non-profit or religious organizations. She specializes in leadership for school improvement for more equitable student opportunities. Through her work on academic climate and the relationship between principals and teachers, she uses innovative applications of theory and advanced quantitative techniques to understand the broader complexities of how leadership and policy decisions may influence school progress.

Dr. Urick has won awards for her research and teaching. Most notable, she won the 2018 American Educational Research Association (AERA) Division A (Administration, Organization, & Leadership) Early Career Award. In 2016, she received the Patricia L. Hardré Excellence in Graduate Mentoring from the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education at the University of Oklahoma.

Alison Treadaway is the MA in School Leadership Program Coordinator. Mrs. Treadaway works closely with Dr. Eckert and the rest of the faculty. Through her role she engages with potential MA students and coordinates the existing students in the program. She provides support by recruiting, scheduling events, and assisting students with class sign up and scholarships.