Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Official Newspaper of Eddy County since 1883
Doug Darling, president of Lake Region State College
by Jeff Beach, North Dakota Monitor
December 5, 2024
The longest serving president in the North Dakota University System will retire next year.
The North Dakota State Board of Higher Education on Thursday accepted Doug Darling's request for early retirement as Lake Region State College president.
Darling will work through June 30, 2025.
Darling was named president of the two-year college in Devils Lake in 2013.
He had previously been vice president of instructional services at the college.
During a review of Darling's work Thursday, Chancellor Mark Hagerott noted that Lake Region endowment has tripled in the last 10 years from $4.5 million to $13.6 million and that the headcount on campus is up 17% since the COVID-19 pandemic.
Darling is a native of Leeds and a graduate of the University of North Dakota.
He also had served as an assistant coach of the Lake Region State College club clay target shooting team.
Lake Region also has added men's and women's hockey programs during his tenure.
The University System is also searching for a replacement for the president of Dickinson State University. Stephen Easton resigned during the summer.
A search committee has a goal of recommending finalists to the State Board in March.
The board on Thursday extended Ty Orton as acting Dickinson State president until the next regular board meeting. Orton is the executive director of the university's Heritage Foundation
Hagerott also plans to step down at the end of next year.
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