Gaston’s Second President: William Cottingham

When Gaston College lost its first president in February 1967, it needed an interim president while the school’s Board of Trustees pursued a permanent replacement.

Dr. William T. Cottingham, who had been Gaston College’s dean of instruction when Dr. Bob Benson resigned, was appointed as the school’s interim president. Cottingham remained dean of instruction while becoming acting president until June 30, 1967.

A Douglas, Ga., native who had been at Gaston College since getting his Ph.D. from Florida State in 1966, Cottingham had a sterling reputation at the school. J. Edward Stowe, who served as chairman of the Gaston College Board of Trustees from 1966 to 1979, said of Cottingham when he was named interim president, “This is a man in whom both the faculty and the students can have the utmost confidence.” “Gaston College is still the finest community college in the Southeast.”

While Cottingham only held the position for five weeks, he remained at the school in his dean position until May 1969 when he resigned to become president at Southeastern Community College in Whiteville.

A 1937 Duke University graduate, Cottingham served in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II and picked up his Master’s in English from Emory University. He was also a longtime teacher at North Georgia College.

Cottingham had been a high school class valedictorian, an Eagle Scout and was married with six children.

When Cottingham resigned as Southeastern Community College president in July 1973, he became a professor at Appalachian State. Cottingham remained in Boone until 2010. He died in his native Douglas, Ga., on August 14, 2012, at 96 years old.