Kirk A. Nooks

A New York native, Dr. Kirk A. Nooks was appointed to serve as the President of Gordon State College effective June 1, 2018. Prior to assuming these responsibilities, Dr. Nooks has served as a college president and in various senior administrator roles for over 10 years. He began his career as a former Campus Dean, Dean of Student Services and Project Manager and brings a blended set of skills and over 20 years of education and engineering experience. On a national level, he has served as the Dean of the Presidents’ Round Table’s Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership from 2015-2018.

A sought after speaker and presenter, he has shared thoughts on topics ranging from the Learning College concept to Strategic Planning. In fact, he recently published a book chapter in entitled, “Strategic Planning and the Gen X President.”

Nooks came to Gordon State College from Metropolitan Community College – Longview. The over 4,000 student campus is located in Lee’s Summit, MO and was the first two-year institution in the nation to be named College of the Year by TIME magazine. During his presidency at MCC-Longview, Nooks initiated a strategic visioning process aimed to build upon the legacy of the college while responding to the nation’s 2025 Completion Agenda. The college’s strategic plan, entitled “The Longview BLUEprint” was issued in January 2014. The focused efforts resulted in the campus being recognized as a two-time Bellwether Award national finalist, developing new alliances with Cultural Arts entities, implementing a one-stop Enrollment Center model, and increasing student completion and enrollment.

Before joining MCC-Longview, Dr. Nooks was at Georgia Highlands College (GHC), where he served as both campus dean for the college’s Marietta campus and executive liaison for diversity initiatives. He served at GHC for four years. Prior to GHC, Nooks served in various leadership roles at Northern Virginia Community College, including dean of student services and assistant professor. Previously, he was director of the office of institutional initiatives and governance at Prince George’s Community College (Md.). Before transitioning to a career in higher education, Nooks worked as an engineering project manager at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center and as an account executive with a health benefits consulting company.

Throughout his career, he has helped institutions with major initiatives, including establishing and implementing a governance system, organizing and scaling up a national completion initiative, and developing a framework for faculty, staff and students to advance the institution’s learning organization aspirations. He has presented at national conferences on topics ranging from institutional governance models to the college completion agenda.

Dr. Nooks holds a doctorate in higher education administration from George Washington University (Washington, D.C.) and an MBA in marketing and a bachelor of science in industrial management from Mercer University (Macon, Ga.). He is a graduate of the Thomas Lakin Institute for Mentored Leadership and a member of the inaugural cohort of the American Council on Education’s Spectrum Leadership Institute.

In his spare time, Nooks enjoys baking his famous Italian Cream cake, reading, and playing tennis.