Andrea Golato concludes 13 years as dean of TXST’s Graduate College

At The Graduate College, celebration has a sound: the clear ring of a golden bell. A staff member carries it through the office to call everyone together. The tradition took root during the 13 years when Andrea Golato, Ph.D., led The Graduate College at Texas State University. In September 2026, Andrea will hear it one last time as dean.

That final note will close a chapter devoted to graduate education and open a new season for Andrea and her husband, Peter Golato, Ph.D., who is retiring as director of TXST’s IDEA Center.

Andrea arrived at TXST in July 2013, committed to reshaping how the university recruited and served master’s and doctoral students. She found a university ready to invest. Its leaders shared her belief that graduate students are central to teaching and research.

“They wanted to transform The Graduate College into an active unit on campus and gave me a certain level of autonomy in that transformation,” Andrea said.

In 2013, The Graduate College ran on paper, and most of the office’s work centered on graduate admissions and policy.

One of Andrea’s first priorities was to replace a cumbersome homegrown admissions system with a state-of-the-art application platform and move other paper-based processes online, streamlining office workflows and creating a better user experience. Continued investment from university leadership allowed her to expand the staff and build services around students.

Today, The Graduate College no longer processes applications. Its staff helps prospective students see themselves in graduate school, then supports current students as they navigate it, fund it, finish it, and share what they discover.

“Over time, we have built a people-centered support unit,” Andrea said.

The staff now offers more than 90 workshops each year on research, career skills, and completing a graduate degree. Between 2016 and 2025, funding specialists helped students secure about $6.5 million in grants and fellowships.

Graduate enrollment grew 58% during Andrea’s tenure, reaching more than 6,200 students in 2026. TXST also introduced dozens of graduate degrees, including 16 doctoral programs, across fields such as engineering, technology, business, government, nursing, and healthcare. Some prepare students for research careers, others build skills for the workforce, and many do both.

For the first time this fall, all eligible doctoral students holding doctoral assistantship positions at TXST are receiving a full tuition scholarship. Andrea called the support “a game-changer.”

“Graduate students are incubators of research,” Andrea said. “They are the ones creating new knowledge.”

TXST is also nearing R1 status, the nation’s highest classification for research universities. As Andrea prepares to leave TXST, she knows that the promise she saw in 2013 has become real: graduate education is now essential to TXST’s research mission and will help power the university’s future as a research institution. 

Most people name one hometown. Andrea names a region.

“I consider my hometown to be Northern Germany,” she said.

Her family moved 11 times during her childhood, and trips across Europe kept other languages and cultures close. She studied English, Latin, French, and Spanish before earning the equivalent of a master’s degree in translation studies from Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz at Germersheim.

An exchange at Louisiana State University in 1990 introduced Andrea to linguistics. She returned to Germany to finish her degree, then came back to the United States in 1992.

“I had also met my husband in Louisiana, so my return to the U.S. was not just academic in nature,” Andrea said.

Andrea earned a doctorate in German applied linguistics from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997. Peter earned his doctorate there in French linguistics.

Their first faculty jobs separated them: Andrea taught in Oregon, while Peter worked in Alabama. They reunited at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where Andrea later became an associate dean. The role showed her that administration could widen the circle of students she helped.

When Andrea accepted the TXST deanship, Peter stepped away from his role in a top-ranked French program.

“He was willing to step back to allow me to pursue the opportunity at Texas State,” Andrea said.

Andrea’s experience as an international student and her childhood spent adapting to new places helped her understand students from many backgrounds.

“Seeing them overcome adversity, hardship, and obstacles to even come here, and then seeing them flourish and pursue and realize their dream...that’s what I enjoy the most,” she said. 

“I strongly believe that an administrator should create and foster a positive environment in which others succeed and flourish,” said Andrea.

She models that belief in grand ceremonies and small tasks. At graduate student events, Andrea helps set up and clean up. At commencement, she proudly recognizes every graduate student who crosses the stage, each carrying years of work toward that moment.

At Three Minute Thesis competitions, the students are not the only ones facing the clock. Andrea delivers her own three-minute introduction to the event from memory.

“It is a fun way to model the constraints we are asking them to follow, proving that if they have to do it, I should be able to do it as well. It also serves as a calibration for the judges and audience.”

Running with the Graduate Deans invited graduate students, faculty, and staff to join the college’s deans at a series of local races. The initiative promoted wellness, strengthened community, and raised money for graduate student scholarships.

One of those races put Andrea to the test. She agreed to participate before learning that the challenge would keep her running back and forth along the same 500-yard stretch for six hours. Once she made the commitment, she followed through.

“I have never asked anyone to do anything I have not done myself,” Andrea said.

Her work as a linguist also shaped how she leads. Andrea considers several sides of a problem, listens to opposing views, and uses evidence to reach a decision. She strives to be fair, direct, and kind, while remaining firm when needed.

“I may vehemently disagree with someone, but I like to keep things so that we can still go for coffee afterward,” Andrea said. 

Family helped shape the timing of Andrea and Peter’s decision to retire. Andrea’s father passed away three years ago, and her mother is now facing an illness.

“I want to be able to spend more meaningful time with her and be there when it matters most,” Andrea said.

The couple plans to spend longer stretches in Germany and revive hobbies set aside during their careers. Retirement will change Andrea’s calendar, but not her curiosity. She already has several research projects planned.

Clay Green, Ph.D., associate dean for strategic initiatives and research, will become interim dean of The Graduate College effective Oct. 1. Melissa A. Martinez, Ph.D., will succeed Green as associate dean for strategic initiatives and research.

“The Graduate College is in good hands,” Andrea said. “They will do a great job.”

Andrea expects the college’s leaders and staff to keep listening to students, testing ideas, and adapting as graduate education changes.

After a lifetime spent studying how words connect people, one language hardly seems enough.

Five languages offer a fitting farewell: Auf Wiedersehen, au revoir, adiós, valete, and goodbye to a dean who measured her success by the success of others.