Dayton T. Cole served as chief legal officer at Appalachian State University for 30 of his 36 years in the practice of higher education law and retired as General Counsel on June 1, 2018. His higher education career began in 1982 at Southwest Texas State University, where he served as Assistant University Attorney and Students' Legal Advisor, and later as Assistant to the Dean of Students. From 1984 to 1988, he served as University Attorney (with government relations duties) for East Texas State University (now Texas A&M-Commerce and Texas A&M-Texarkana).
Dayton’s professional experience includes research, writing and counseling on such diverse matters as curriculum; academic standards; governance; teacher certification; general education models; constitutional law; employment; civil rights; real estate; intellectual property; tort claims; contracts; administrative law; entertainment; public records and open meetings; law enforcement; tax-exempt financing; construction; charitable gifts and trust administration; legal audits; legal ethics; and numerous other topics. He taught as an adjunct member of the faculties and as a guest lecturer at East Texas State University and Appalachian State University.
He graduated from Southwest Texas State University (now Texas State University - San Marcos) in 1976 with a B.B.A. and earned a J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston in 1981.
Dayton served as a member of the NACUA Board of Directors from 1998-2001 and as its Treasurer from 2002-2005. In 2009, he received the Distinguished Service Awards from NACUA and the Education Section of the North Carolina Bar Association. He has also served on numerous committees for NACUA, including chairing the Committee on Finance and Audit.
In the words of his colleagues, Dayton is able to lead others through his quiet leadership and insights and he has consistently used those skills to advance NACUA's work. Dayton exemplifies the criteria for this award: "outstanding service and substantial contributions to NACUA." While interacting generously with his colleagues, he was always gracious, caring and thoughtful.
NACUA is pleased to recognize Dayton T. Cole as a Life Member of the Association in recognition of his outstanding service and his sustained and substantial contributions to NACUA and the field of higher education law.