Donald V. Coers was a professor and administrator at Sam Houston State University (SHSU) from 1969-2000, and Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services at SHSU from 1995 to 2000.

Coers graduated cum laude from the University of Texas with a bachelor’s degree in English in 1963. He received a master’s degree in English in 1969 from University of Texas at Austin and a doctorate from Texas A&M University in 1974.

Coers' academic studies center on John Steinbeck, whose life and work he developed an interest for during his time as a graduate student. He is known internationally as one of the leading scholars on John Steinbeck. His 1991 book John Steinbeck as Propagandist: The Moon Down Goes to War received the Elizabeth Agee Prize from the University of Alabama Press Commitee.

In 1995, he co-edited After the Grapes of Wrath: Essays on John Steinbeck in 1995 with SHSU English Professor Paul Ruffin and Robert DeMott of Ohio University. He additionally introduced the release of Steinbeck’s A Moon is Down in 1995. The same year, he was awarded the Burkhardt Award from Ball State University as Outstanding Steinbeck Scholar of 1995. Coers was additionally chosen alongside SHSU professor Thomas Fensch out of a pool of international scholars to write the introduction for Penguin House’s 1997 re-print of Steinbeck’s Tortilla Flat.

Coers' joined the SHSU faculty as an assistant professor of English in 1969 and was promoted to professor in 1986. He spent a year as Interim Director of Institutional Research and three years as the Coordinator of Graduate Studies from 1992-1995. In September of 1995, he was chosen as Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs and Student Services, a position he held until leaving Hunstville in 2000.

During his time at SHSU, he was heavily involved in university service and faculty governance. He served as the Chair of the President’s Task Force on Student Retention, the first President of the SHSU Faculty Senate, and Director of SHSU’s 10-year Reaccreditation Self-Study (1986-89). He also served as President of the SHSU chapter of the Texas Association of College Teachers in 1987 and President of the Huntsville Chapter of the Texas Ex-Students Association, and was additionally involved with the Financial Resources Commitee and Strategic Plan Implementation Commitee.

Coers also was involved with the wider community of Huntsville and the state of Texas. He spent a two-year term as State President of the Council of Faculty Governance Organizations (CoFGO) and an additional two-year term on the organization’s executive board. He was a member of the Huntsville Rotary Club for many years and served as President for the 1989-1990 year. Coers spent time on several boards, including the First United Methodist Church, the SHSU’s Wesley Foundation Chapter, the Board of Adjustment, and the Zoning Study Committee for the City of Huntsville.

For his work with the Faculty Senate, CoFGO, and the Texas Association of College Teachers, Coers received the SHSU 1991 Excellence in Service Award.

Coers served as Associate Editor for The Texas Review from 1979 to at least 2000 (end date unknown). In early 2000, he was named Vice President for Academic Affairs at Angelo State University, ending his thirty-year career at SHSU.

He has a wife, Mary Jeanne, and two adult children, Jeanne Coers Stacy and John Coers.