Marion E. Coy, DO | 1973-1975

Dr. Coy a general practitioner and anesthesiologist from Jackson, Tennessee, was president of the American Osteopathic Association in 1971 when TCOM co-founder and fellow AOA board member George Luibel, D.O., approached him during an AOA board meeting and asked if he would consider becoming the first president of the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine. After a tour of TCOM, Dr. Coy said yes. He divided his time between his national post and TCOM for the duration of his AOA presidency, and then devoted his full attention to the fledgling school as of August 1, 1972.

Under Dr. Coy’s leadership, TCOM earned full accreditation from the AOA Bureau of Professional Education and full recognition from the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners. Dr. Coy opened TCOM’s first two community healthcare clinics – one urban, one rural – and in 1974 he presided at the graduation of TCOM’s first class of 18 Doctors of Osteopathy.

During TCOM’s formative years, growth and financial stability through a formal affiliation with a state institution was a priority for the school, and ensuring that Texas had an adequate supply of physicians was a priority for the State. Dr. Coy traveled constantly, telling the TCOM story to the public and to legislators, and attending every meeting of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. He successfully rallied statewide support, and in May 1975 the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 216, which made TCOM a state-assisted medical school under the jurisdiction of the North Texas State University Board of Regents.

Upon state affiliation, the position of chief executive officer at TCOM became a deanship. Dr. Coy relinquished his presidency and returned to teaching. From 1975 until his retirement in 1983, Dr. Coy shared his expertise with student physicians as a professor of osteopathic philosophy, principles and practices. He received the school’s highest honor, the TCOM Founders’ Medal, in 1981 and was named TCOM’s first professor emeritus in 1982. Dr. Coy died November 1, 2001, at the age of 91.