Friday Forum with The Waco Bridge

Year in Review: TSTC Waco Provost Beth Wooten

By Molly-Jo Tilton,

Published December 12, 2025 at 11:54 AM CST

Friday Forum dives into a special series inviting local leaders to reflect on the past year's challenges and preview 2026, continuing this week with TSTC's Waco Provost Beth Wooten.

Co-Hosts JB Smith and Molly-Jo Tilton sit down for an extended interview with TSTC's Waco Provost Beth Wooten. They talk about the value of a tech degree, AI challenges and the growth possibilities from the voter-approved $850 million TSTC endowment.

Listen to the full conversation above.

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Friday Forum with The Waco Bridge

Molly-Jo Tilton

Molly-Jo Tilton joined KWBU in 2024 as the station's Multimedia Reporter. She covers all things Waco for KWBU, from City Council to the local arts scene. Her work has appeared on The Texas Standard and NPR's All Things Considered.

See stories by Molly-Jo Tilton

J.B. Smith

Before joining The Waco Bridge in February as editor-in-chief, J.B. Smith had 33 years of Texas journalism experience, most of it as local government reporter and managing editor at the Tribune-Herald. He has won numerous statewide awards for enterprise journalism, including a series on migrant deaths on the Mexico border. A Sulphur Springs native and Southwestern University graduate, he is grateful for the opportunity to build a nonprofit newsroom in his adopted hometown of Waco.

See stories by J.B. Smith