Graduates are the first GCSU Doctors of Education

In 2023, April Dockery and Daymond Ray became the first graduates of Georgia College & State University’s doctoral program in Curriculum and Instruction (C&I). Dockery and Ray were each awarded an Ed.D. – a Doctor of Education degree – during the December Commencement ceremony held in the Centennial Center. 

Dockery and Ray are the first two out of five original cohort members to complete the Ed.D. in C&I program. Ray said the group called themselves the “Fab 5” and faced many challenges as they were completing much of their early coursework at the height of the Covid-10 pandemic.

Two veteran College of Education faculty members chaired Dockery and Ray’s doctoral committees: Dr. Linda Golson Bradley and Dr. Joseph Peters, respectively.

Dr. Dockery teaches in the Coffee County School System and is expanding her leadership roles now that she has completed her doctoral degree. Dr. Ray, originally from Adel, Georgia, is the principal of Hancock Central High School.