Robert Vogel steps in as interim college president

The Midway College Board of Trustees has named Dr. Robert Vogel interim president to fill the vacancy created by last week's resignation of Dr. William B. Drake Jr. Vogel began his duties today, meeting with faculty, staff and students, college spokeswoman Ellen Gregory said.

“Dr. Vogel has the board’s full support and the authority to make all decisions for the college until a permanent president is selected through a national search, which will begin immediately,” board Chairman James J. O’Brien, chairman and CEO of of Ashland Inc., said in a news release.

Vogel retired in 1988 as president of Wartburg College, a Lutheran college in Waverly, Iowa, his alma mater, where he had been president since 1980. Since then, he has been interim president at four Lutheran colleges: Texas Lutheran University in Seguin, Texas; Grand View College in Des Moines, Iowa; Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa; and Bethany College in Lindsborg, Kan., where he is a director. He conducted a presidential search for Finlandia University in Michigan. Originally from Phillipsburg, Kan., he lives in Denver, Colorado, with his wife Sally. They have two children and four grandchildren.