One of the first lessons taught at West Point is that leadership is about service -- and that lesson holds outside the military, as well.

As Fletcher Lamkin was introduced Thursday morning as Kansas Wesleyan University's 18th president, he said he'd be bringing his lessons from a lifetime of military service to the office. But, he quickly added, "I'm not George S. Patton -- so everyone can take a deep breath and a sigh of relief."

Lamkin graduated from U.S. Military Academy at West Point and spent 36 years in the U.S. Army, retiring in 2000 with the rank of brigadier general.

He spent several years at West Point as a professor, department head and dean. From 2000 to 2007, he was president of Westminster College in Fulton, Mo., and from 2008 to 2009 he was vice president of institutional advancement at Dominican University in California. He spent 2009 as an independent financial consultant for colleges and universities.

He succeeds Philip P. Kerstetter, who was hired this past spring to be president of Mount Olive College in North Carolina.

In introducing Lamkin, KWU board of trustees chairwoman Paula Wright said the search committee had set out to find someone with "intelligence, integrity, leadership and fundraising skills" and had found that person in Lamkin.

Lamkin, Wright said, "is someone who could take Kansas Wesleyan University to the next step and beyond."

And that's what Lamkin said he intends to do.

He said he's excited about the "opportunity to lead this exceptional university at this time of great promise."

He said he is committed to the university's mission of "faith and learning" to develop both the intellect and the character, leading to "lives of success, significance and service."

"These are values we've had a passion for during our career in higher education," he said, referring to himself and his wife, Cindy.

Lamkin said he is committing to KWU for "a decade at least, God willing," and that he expects a much different school 10 years from now.

The university is already on solid financial footing, Lamkin said, and he wants to continue to build on that.

"It's operated in the black for 20 years, and that's a good thing," he said, adding that it can do better.

He noted the endowment fund has lost ground as the value of its investments declined in the past couple of years, and now it stands at $20 million. Within five years, he wants that to more than double, to $50 million.

He also wants to increase enrollment from the current 660 to 800 within a few years, with 1,000 as a long-term goal.

The campus can "comfortably handle" 1,000 students, he said.

The keys to success, both in enrollment and fundraising, he said, come from "delivering on the promises you make ... not just by making a lot of promises, but by delivering."

n Reporter Mike Strand can be reached at 822-1418 or by e-mail at mstrand@salina.com.

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