K-12 EdD Faculty

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 his Ed.D. in Curriculum and Instruction at Baylor, his master's degree from the University of North Texas, and is a BSEd graduate from Baylor in Secondary Education.

Dr. Jon Eckert is the Lynda and Robert Copple Endowed Chair for Christians in School Leadership. Dr. Eckert provides academic leadership for the Baylor Center for School Leadership, serving as co-director, and is the program director of Baylor’s MA in School Leadership in the School of Education’s Department of Educational Leadership, where he is assistant department chair. Dr. Eckert came to Baylor in 2019 with more than two decades of experience in education, both in K-12 schools and universities. He has served 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. His research interests include collective leadership, teaching effectiveness, evaluation, and strategic compensation to enhance that effectiveness, and science education. He has taught in the EdD program since 2021.

Dr. Nathern Okilwa is an associate professor in the Department of Educational Leadership at Baylor University. Dr. Okilwa earned his Ph.D. in Educational Policy and Planning from the University of Texas at Austin. Before joining Baylor, Okilwa was a faculty member, since 2013, in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). Prior to joining the ranks of higher education, Dr. Okilwa's experience and commitment to education spanned 13 years of general and special education teaching in K12 settings across a variety of sociocultural contexts. Dr. Okilwa’s areas of scholarly interest include educational access and equity for underserved students, educational policy, sociocultural influences on educational outcomes, school leadership, and international organization of schooling. His work is published in a variety of outlets — peer-reviewed journals, a book and book chapters, and blogs.

Dr. Bill Sterrett serves as Department Chair and Professor of Educational Leadership at Baylor University, where he holds the Fred & Edith Hale Endowed Chair for School Leadership. 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.

Dr. Angela Urick 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.