ELCA NEWS SERVICE

May 6, 2009  

Darrel Colson Named President of ELCA's Wartburg College
09-108-FI

     CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Wartburg College's board of regents
announced May 4 that Dr. Darrel D. Colson, provost and dean at
Centenary College, Shreveport, La., will become the 17th
president of the liberal arts school in Waverly, Iowa, on July 1.
Wartburg is one of 28 colleges and universities of the
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
     Colson, 53, succeeds Jack R. Ohle, who resigned to become
president of Gustavus Adolphus College, St. Peter, Minn. Dr.
William E. Hamm, former president of Waldorf College, Forest
City, Iowa, has served Wartburg as interim president since July
1, 2008. Gustavus Adolphus and Waldorf are also ELCA colleges.
     "I have long been drawn to the values and character of
Lutheran higher education, and I have long held a very high
opinion of Wartburg College," Colson said in a news release.
     Fred Hagemann, Waverly, chair of the regents, said the board
selected Colson for his academic and administrative skills. "We
felt that an emphasis on improving our exposure, both regionally
and nationally, as a fine academic institution meshed well with
his qualities and his vision for Wartburg."
     Colson is a graduate of Louisiana State University, Baton
Rouge, and earned a master's degree and doctorate from Vanderbilt
University, Nashville, Tenn. He taught at Western Carolina
University, Cullowhee, N.C., and served on the founding faculty
of Louisiana Scholars' College, an experimental honors college at
Northwestern State University, Natchitoches, La.
     Colson was Fletcher Jones Chair of Great Books at Pepperdine
University in Malibu, Calif., before becoming a professor of
philosophy at Centenary College in 2002.
     Colson's wife, Christy, is a preschool administrator. They
are the parents of two adult children.
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     The home page for Wartburg College is at
http://www.wartburg.edu/ on the Web.

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