Longtime Kirkwood director, dean to succeed Mollenhauer on community college board

CEDAR RAPIDS — Having spent nearly 40 years of his professional career serving Kirkwood Community College as a coordinator, director, dean, and recruiter, Doug Bannon is adding another title to his Kirkwood resume after being appointed Tuesday to replace retiring chair Jim Mollenhauer on the board of trustees.

Earning unanimous approval from the nine-member board, 69-year-old Bannon beginning Oct. 11 will fill out the duration of Mollenhauer’s four-year term — which started in November 2021 and will expire in 2025. At that time, Bannon can run to stay on the board for another four-year term.

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“He is no stranger to Kirkwood, that’s for sure,” Mollenhauer told his fellow trustees Tuesday in nominating Bannon, disclosing having made a personal visit to his successor’s home to vet the candidate. “I am highly recommending Doug … to be on the board of trustees.”

Mollenhauer, 85, announced plans to retire last month after 20 years of service on the board and seven as its chair — making him one of just four board chairs in Kirkwood history. His tenure spanned one-third of the community college’s 58-year existence and two-thirds of its six presidents since its formation in 1966.

Although he considered stepping down in 2022, Mollenhauer decided to stick it out through one more president — given Lori Sundberg at that time announced her plans to retire the Kirkwood presidency in 2023.

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“Dr. Sundberg encouraged me to stay on a little bit longer, so that she wasn't retiring and the board chair wasn't retiring at the same time,” Mollenhauer told The Gazette last month. “So I stayed on a little longer so that I could be there for Dr. (Kristie) Fisher, as the new president. So that would make things a little bit easier for her.”

Now that Fisher has a year of presidential experience under her belt, Mollenhauer is passing his district seat to Bannon — who lives in Marion, which sits in the seventh district he’ll represent right in the heart of Linn County.

Bannon — who dedicated all 46 years of his professional life to one community college or another — started his postsecondary academic journey at Marshalltown Community College. He went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Northwest Missouri State University and then master’s from Truman State University before starting as a youth counselor for Indian Hills Community College in 1978.

He entered the Kirkwood sphere in 1982 — coordinating and supervising educational programming in Jones County. Although he left for a brief stint at a community college in Illinois, Bannon returned to Kirkwood in 1991 and spent the next 27 years advancing into the role of dean of admissions and student life.

In addition to leading staff in admissions, student life, student housing, and campus health, Bannon developed an on-campus admissions and recruitment visit-day program that welcomed more than 5,000 students and parents annually and “became a best practice for several community colleges.”

In his most recent role with Kirkwood, Bannon served as a part-time admissions recruiter — helping prospective high school students with the college-selection process.

When his term expires next year, so will the terms of four other Kirkwood trustees. The remaining four trustees’ terms expire in 2027.

Vanessa Miller covers higher education for The Gazette.

Comments: (319) 339-3158; vanessa.miller@thegazette.com