Betty Cotton

Professional Summary

Mrs. Betty L. Cotton has worked for Texas A&M University in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics since March 1999.  Mrs. Cotton is a 1994 general business graduate from Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX and received an associate degree from North Harris Community College in Kingwood, TX in 1992.   In her career she has assisted 4 department heads: Drs. James R. Wild, Gregory D. Reinhart, Dorothy E. Shippen and currently A. Joshua Wand.  She has helped hire two department heads, 28 tenure-track faculty, 8 academic and professional track faculty, processed over 40 promotion dossiers, and has hired, trained, and supervised numerous administrative staff. She has organized dozens of events, from retirement celebrations to holiday parties, seminar receptions, faculty dinners, fundraising events, chili cook-offs, and potlucks, to name a few.  In addition to her regular job duties, Mrs. Cotton organized two large events recently for the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics. One was a one-day symposium to celebrate the department’s 75^th Anniversary, which involved coordinating with numerous alumni from the department. The other was a two-day faculty retreat. Mrs. Cotton not only arranged logistics, but also helped design the format, enabling productive conversations about governance, resource sharing and hiring priorities. Mrs. Cotton’s dedication has been recognized at multiple levels within the university. She is the recipient of the 2019 College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Dean’s Outstanding Achievement Award,  the 2016 Texas A&M AgriLife Vice Chancellor’s Award in Excellence, the 2015 Texas A&M University President’s Meritorious Service Award, the 2022 Director’s Award in Administrative Staff Support and has been honored twice within department with the Department Award of Excellence in 2002 and 2018.