Fired up: Tom Coyle

Harlingen resident Tom Coyle received his bachelor’s degree in metallurgical engineering from the “other UT,” the University of Tennessee.
But as the saying goes, “He wasn’t born here, but he got to Texas as fast as he could.”
Coyle augmented his engineering skills by studying business and earning his master’s of business administration at Georgia State University in Atlanta, which opened up an exciting career that took him to South Carolina and Utah. For the most part, he has made his mark in maquiladora management in Mexico.
He is now an assistant professor in the School of Business at the University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College.
Coyle moved his family to Harlingen 26 years ago when Kemet Electronics Corp. sent him to its Matamoros plant as a process engineering manager.
“When I arrived at the maquila in the mid ‘80s, it was still very much a manual assembly operation, and now they have world-class high technology equipment,” he said.
Coyle said it was rewarding not only implementing new technologies at the plants but also witnessing the original group of employees develop in technical skills.
“I got to promote a lot of those folks,” he said. “That was so cool, so exciting to watch them develop their skills. The first female plant manager was named under my watch.”
What makes Coyle tick is a good challenge, and the business of manufacturing offers just that. He spent the last two years with Kemet in Monterrey, Mexico, as vice president and managing director of the company’s three large plants in the area.
“I always said God has a great sense of humor that He would send a person trained in leadership skills in the United States Marine Corps to live and work in and try to figure out a completely new culture,” he said.
After leaving manufacturing ten years ago, Coyle began teaching business classes at UTB/TSC. He found he enjoyed sharing his expertise with the next generation of business leaders, enough so to return to school, earning a doctorate in business administration.
Coyle teaches introduction to business, operations management and principles of management. He also teaches graduate courses in supply chain management, project management and organizational behavior.
This dedicated professor is particularly fired up these days about the new University Center in Harlingen at Texas State Technical College where he will teach principles of management and operations management this fall.
“It’s not only that my commute will be a breeze, since we live in Harlingen, but I am also excited for students in the area who will, I hope, take advantage of the convenience of this location,” he said.
If the program grows the way Coyle and the School of Business are expecting it to, UTB/TSC will eventually offer all necessary courses for a business major at the TSTC location.
“Think of the savings in time — not to mention gas money. We think we’ve got a win-win situation lined up in Harlingen,” he said. “I’m looking forward to having some full classrooms at the new University Center.”
For more information on UTB/TSC classes offered at University Center–Harlingen, contact offcampus@utb.edu or call 956-882-4168.

Cheryl Taylor is an informational writer at The University of Texas at Brownsville and Texas Southmost College. Log on to www.utb.edu for more information,