(Radio Iowa) – The leader of the community college based in Fort Dodge has been picked to take over at Iowa Western Community College in Council Bluffs. Dr. DANIEL Kinney is the son of long-time Iowa Western president DAN Kinney, who is retiring after leading Iowa Western Community College for the past 26 years. The younger Kinney says his dad has been a remarkable mentor.

Dr. Daniel Kinney

“Good things I’ve learned from him, but also when you have a mentor there’s things that you learn that maybe you want to do a lot different,” Daniel Kinney said. “…I think our communications styles are probably quite a bit different. I’m a big collaborator, let’s get some evidence, let’s talk — approachable — things like that.” Kinney is moving from a community college with at 53-hundred students to Iowa Western, where about 65-hundred are enrolled.

“Getting organizations, getting people on campus I think is the most important thing (with) athletics,” Kinney says. “I think you guys see a lot of what I do. You are in a lot larger metropolitan area than I am in Fort Dodge, but our music…performances bring a lot of people on campus and I think that’s important because we are the community.”

Kinney has been Iowa Central’s president since 2009 and will officially become Iowa Western’s president in early 2021. In addition to his experience in higher education, Kinney served 17 years in the Kansas National Guard. He commanded an engineering company in Iraq in 2005 and is the recipient of the Bronze Star.