WILMINGTON, Ohio – On March 1, 2024, Dr. Corey Cockerill was named the 20th president (and first woman) of Wilmington College. For Cockerill, the path to such a high-level position involved soul searching, countless hours of higher learning and an unbelievable amount of time away from home.

Cockerill grew up in the city limits of Mount Vernon, Ohio. She was not raised on a farm and 4-H and FFA were just an afterthought. She attended Wilmington College to study computer science and graphic design.

Well into her junior year and undergraduate studies, Cockerill began questioning whether the career she was pursuing would be fulfilling in the long run.

“I came into college as a computer science major and it was not a good fit for me, so I went to undergraduate advisers who helped me work to align my program with my skill set through an algorithm,” she said. “It showed what your educational fit was and mine, surprisingly, was agriculture communications.”

Cockerill inherently had the gift of the pen, and she found agriculture interesting. So, agriculture communications it was.

“I enjoy all kinds of writing and agriculture was fascinating to me,” Cockerill said. “The magic and mystery that happens in agriculture, growing things, was something I wanted to do at a very young age.”

Cockerill majored in agricultural communications and minored in natural resource management. By these she was able to see agriculture as a complex system shaped by people and policy. She learned how producers and consumers connect, how policy plays a role and how much of agriculture is a mystery to people who didn’t grow up in it.

Cockerill took on a summer job her junior and senior years at Canter’s Cave 4-H Camp in Jackson, Ohio. There she worked with youth new to agriculture.

“I loved seeing how those kids encountered agriculture through 4-H,” she said. “For many of them, it was all new, and that was all new to me, too.”

And it was at Canter’s Cave that she met her future husband, Tate, who was a Wilmington College agriculture student.

Tate, a third-generation farmer, and Corey settled down on a farm in Highland County south of Greenfield.

Her love for ag led to six years in graduate research focused on agricultural communication, conservation policy, and the farm bill’s conservation title. She received her Master’s in rural sociology and her doctorate in environmental sociology policy.

After graduation, Cockerill worked in communications for the Ohio Department of Natural Resources in Columbus before she and her husband returned to farming and started a family.

“I was already inclined toward being sort of an outdoor person,” Cockerill said. “I like to hunt. I like to fish. I liked nature and saw myself being someone working in the outdoors. Natural resources and communications together made sense.”

But she yearned for something more.

“One day I just decided to look at Wilmington College’s job openings. There was a position open in Communications Arts,” Cockerill said. “You know, I never saw myself teaching, but I felt confident and decided to give it a try so I applied for the position and landed the job.”

Cockerill served as a professor in the communications department from 2008 through 2023, teaching journalism, public relations and eventually, the agricultural communications program.

Cockerill proposed a new agricultural communication concentration, bridging communication arts and agriculture. Launched in 2014, the program grew quickly and became a defining component of Wilmington College’s agriculture offerings. During her tenure, agriculture enrollment expanded significantly, retention rates increased, and experiential learning became central to the student experience. Cockerill also played a key role in developing hands-on initiatives, such as agriculture lobbying trips to Columbus and Washington, D.C., that gave students real-world exposure to policy, advocacy and leadership.

When longtime agriculture leader Monte Anderson retired in 2021, Cockerill stepped into a broader leadership role, gaining a campuswide perspective on academic planning, enrollment growth, and the future of Wilmington College’s agriculture program. Cockerill was appointed interim president in 2023.

Cockerill has led the College through a period of momentum and investment. Wilmington College recently received a record $23 million gift to fund the new Scheve Athletic Center, signaling confidence in the college’s future.

Even more closely tied to Cockerill’s academic roots is the college’s recent acquisition of the former BrightFarms facility in Wilmington, which will be transformed into the Wilmington College AgriScience Complex. The property includes a 120,000-square-foot hydroponic greenhouse and 20 acres adjacent to the college’s 267-acre Academic Farm.

“This is a game-changer for Wilmington College agriculture,” she said. “It allows us to bring crop science, animal science, agribusiness, food systems and applied research together in one place.”

“We’re growing, but we’re growing intentionally,” Cockerill said. “Our goal is to stay accessible, hands-on, and personal, even as the program expands.”

For Cockerill, the overlap between farm, classroom and community is a strength.

“Where balance happens for me is when those parts of my life come together,” she said. “Because this is an ag campus, the farm and the college are constantly intersecting through students, alumni, 4-H and FFA. Those connections make balance possible.”

As president, Cockerill approaches the future with the same optimism that defines both agriculture and education.

“Farmers are gritty, innovative and entrepreneurial,” she said. “No challenge intimidates them. Higher education needs that same mindset.”

Cockerill and her husband operate a 700-acre grain farm and seed business, working alongside their children. Their son, Otis, is now a freshman at Wilmington College studying agribusiness, while their daughter, Lyla, is active in 4-H and FFA, showing livestock and serving as a camp counselor.