About The Center
Dr. Marilyn Kent Byrne is an educator who is dedicated to the success of her students. For a lifetime, she has worked tirelessly to foster the drive to succeed with students of all ages.
Dr. Byrne began her career as a teacher in Idaho, subsequently teaching in three other states before becoming a school administrator and principal in Oregon. Her last professional position before retirement was as dean of graduate studies in educational leadership at Doane College in Nebraska.
Her list of accolades is many and varied; however, designing and delivering a new graduate program in educational leadership to prepare principals for Nebraska schools and leading the improvement of a low-performing middle school in Oregon are two of her most noteworthy accomplishments.
Dorothy and Artie McFerrin are committed to furthering student success in education. They are dedicated Aggies and they have generously supported numerous projects and programs on the Texas A&M University campus. Dorothy is a member of the College of Education and Human Development's Advisory Council and previously worked as a sociologist who brought social issues including drug/alcohol abuse, crime awareness and AIDS education into public schools to be addressed. Artie McFerrin founded KMCO, one of the premier custom manufacturing and specialty chemical providers in the nation.
Dr. Dave Louis is a native of Trinidad and Tobago and relocated to Texas from New York City in 1999. An Oprah Winfrey Scholar, he graduated from Morehouse College in 1995. He later was a pupil of Charles V. Willie at Harvard where he earned his master's degree in education. He worked as a mentor in the Atlanta Public Schools System and later as a math teacher in the New York Public Schools. He also taught at Columbia University at the Double Discovery Center, a bridge program for talented youth in the public schools that exposed them to college life.
Dave earned his doctoral degree in educational administration at Texas A&M University and assumed the position of Director of Student Activities at Huston-Tillotson College in Austin soon after. He came back to Texas A&M to serve as assistant director for the Memorial Student Center, working with students on the Fall Leadership Conference, Spring Leadership Trip, L.T. Jordan Institute for International Awareness and Woodson Black Awareness Committee. His passion has always been the development and success of students at any level of the educational ladder. His appointment as director of the Marilyn Kent Byrne Student Success Center in the College of Education and Human Development allows him to continue his journey as an educator and encompass his passion for student success.
