Taylor on 45 years: ‘You get to make a difference for somebody’

Doug Taylor, the associate dean and director of admissions and records for the Quillen College of Medicine, was awarded at ETSU’s Celebration of Service event held on Jan. 28 for his 45 years of service.

Taylor oversees the selection process of the medical students at the Quillen College of Medicine. The school processes over 2,400 applications a year, and the admissions committee selects 72 students out of them.

Taylor first came to ETSU 55 years ago as a student, but he soon left to join the army and fight in the Vietnam War.

“ETSU actually got me out of Vietnam early and may well of saved my life,” said Taylor. “Dean of admissions at the time, Dr. James Lloyd, wrote the army a letter and [said,] ‘If you’ll let him come back, we’ll let him go back to school.’”

He became a student worker in the Undergraduate Admissions and Records office. His first full-time job at ETSU was as a veteran’s advisor, and he took care of veterans returning from Vietnam by helping them get their benefits.

The secretary of business majors at the university called him up and told him he needed to apply to run admissions at the Quillen College of Medicine. In 1978, he took the job, and he admitted the very first class of medical students and every class ever since.

“Every once in a while, you get the opportunity to reach out and touch a life, and you get to make a difference for somebody,” said Taylor. “Even if you just get to do that once in a while, it’s all worth it.”

Taylor serves on three national committees and chairs one. He chaired the university’s parking committee for 15 years and chairs another committee on campus.

He’s helped conduct over 157 graduations at ETSU, and he says it’s the happiest day of the year.

When he went to Berea College in Kentucky, he saw the dean ask for all for first generation college students to stand, and the majority stood up. He suggested the idea to ETSU President Brian Noland, and it has been done at ETSU ever since.

Taylor plans on staying on as long as possible and as long as he loves coming to work every day.