Higher Than Education

Glen McDonald, president of Gulf Coast State College, has a keen mind for science, the heart of an educator and the acumen of an entrepreneur. But his greatest strength is his compassion for people. 

McDonald received a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry from Florida State University, then worked as a research scientist for Applied Research Associates (ARA), Inc. During this time, he also earned an MBA from FSU. After 25 years of service in research and development, McDonald moved into education, where he applied an entrepreneurial approach to pedagogy. 

At ARA, McDonald had an open license to hunt every possible innovation. 

“We worried about doing the right thing for the right science for a really long time, and it was just nice,” he said. 

President McDonald brings his business acumen and industrial engineering to the college. Photo by Mike Fender

Though McDonald believes education is where he is meant to be, he admitted to missing the speed of the work and strives to take the culture and spirit of that career with him. 

“I want every person that steps onto this campus to feel like they’re the most important person who’s ever put a foot on this campus,” McDonald said of his hopes to shift the mindset of how we approach education in the U.S. 

Efforts are being made to be community-focused and help bridge the gap between the worker deficit in Bay County and potential employers. 

“If you go to your first two years of post K-through-12 education in your community, you have a 70% chance of living and working in that community,” meaning that the majority of students stepping onto the GCSC campus are potential employees for prospective employers. “We put almost 500 more into the workforce this spring.” 

From the student perspective, it is not always easy to see how a piece of paper at the end of a degree path will transform into a meaningful job. McDonald sees part of his mission as showing the value of learning and forging connections between all people in his community. 

One of McDonald’s greatest frustrations regarding education is the pace at which positive change occurs. True growth comes from the freedom to explore all solutions and have the space to fail, but more importantly, learning from these failures. McDonald believes that, “Failure is a great learning tool. We are not taking enough risks because we are not willing to fail.” 

McDonald learned this approach from his former CEO at ARA, Neil Higgins, who “taught me that you create your own destiny and to not wait until you have all the answers. That was the other thing he told us. He said, ‘You’re never going to have all the answers.’ And we as scientists, we want to make everything a little bit better. He said, ‘Put something in the field and see if it works, and then figure out what are the needed answers.’”

This was where he learned the value of failing, but more importantly, “going back and critically assessing is how you grow.” 

His methods are proving successful at GCSC. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, fall 2021 enrollment declined by 3% nationally than the previous year. Enrollment has trended downward since 2010, which was 15% higher than in fall 2021, but 42% of this weakening of enrollment occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

However, GCSC has maintained steady enrollment growth through the pandemic, which can be attributed to the community focus and compassionate culture championed by McDonald’s tenure as vice president of strategic initiatives and economic development, where he served for six years before being promoted to president. 

President McDonald makes every effort to welcome each student to his campus. Photo by Mike Fender

Though McDonald praises many great people along his journey, the greatest influence was his father, who was a mechanical engineer. 

“I’ve never met a person more determined in my life,” he said. “I mean, he would fail, and then he would wake up and try it again. He was so determined to be successful and to work hard.” 

McDonald has lived in every southeastern state except Mississippi, but much of his formative years were spent growing up in Slidell, Louisiana, where McDonald spent a lot of time with his father hunting and fishing. McDonald helped build houses that his father had designed which impacted his view of the world and helped foster his love of science. 

McDonald strives to focus his life on discovering what is right and acting in a way he wishes the world to be. 

“​​If you do the right thing and you work hard, no matter what your outcome is, when you’re 80 years old and you’re looking back at your life, you’ll feel good.” 

Though much of his time is dedicated to GCSC and his community, McDonald enjoys time off traveling with his wife and children. He loves being fully immersed in new cultures and experiencing the local cuisine of exotic places. 

His favorite quote is something his mother told him each day at breakfast. “Today, I want you to be kind and courageous,” and this is a quote he tells himself each morning and endeavors to be both because of her.