Waldorf College President Dick Hanson was named interim president of North Dakota State University by the North Dakota State Board of Higher Education on Friday. He will lead the institution after the departure of President Joseph A. Chapman, who is resigning in January after 11 years at NDSU.

Hanson will remain in his current position as president of Waldorf College until the closing of an acquisition of the college by Columbia Southern University anticipated in the coming months.

Hanson became president at Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, in June 2005. According to a Waldorf news release, he has led with an ethos of service while also challenging faculty, staff and students to model academic excellence. Under his leadership, the college formed the Waldorf Lutheran College Foundation, a separate nonprofit entity that supports campus ministry, alumni relations and scholarship support.

Hanson, who served as dean of the college and vice president of academic affairs for Augustana College in Sioux Falls prior to Waldorf College, holds both a bachelor of arts and a master of arts degree from North Dakota State University.

Waldorf College is a four-year, liberal-arts college.