Kelly Templin, College Station’s city manager since 2013, will step down from that position at the end of March, beginning his new job as director of the Texas A&M University System’s RELLIS campus in Bryan.
A third-generation Aggie from the Class of 1986, Templin holds a bachelor’s in environmental design and a master’s in urban and regional planning. According to the Bryan-College Station Eagle, A&M System Chancellor John Sharp contacted Templin directly to offer him the job.
“I am honored and humbled to have the chance to help fulfill the Chancellor’s vision for the RELLIS Campus,” Templin said in a statement from the A&M System. “Anyone who knows me knows of my great love for Texas A&M and all that it stands for. The fact that my father was housed at Bryan Air Force Base during his freshman year at A&M makes this opportunity all the more symbolic and important to me.”
Kelly will officially begin his new role on April 2, taking over for outgoing director John Barton, Class of 1986. A critical figure in the RELLIS project’s earlier stages of planning and development, Barton will now relocate to Colorado to be closer to family, including he and his wife’s first grandchild, expected in the near future.
“It has been a tremendous honor and pleasure to serve as the inaugural Director of the RELLIS Campus,” Barton said in a statement from the A&M System. “This innovative and transformative vision of our Board of Regents, Chancellor Sharp and Dean Kathy Banks will undoubtedly create a lasting, positive impact on this community, the State of Texas, and our nation. I feel very privileged to have played a key leadership role in making this vision a reality. I am proud of all we have accomplished so quickly and look forward to seeing many great things come from the RELLIS Campus for decades to come.”
The search for Kelly’s replacement at City Hall will begin this week as the City Council meets to discuss an interim city manager and future replacement.
“As much as we are saddened to see Kelly go, we’re happy for him,” Mayor Karl Mooney told KBTX. “On the other hand, it also offers an opportunity for us to take a look at our own staff.”