MIDLAND, Texas — There has been a lot of growth at Midland College in the past 50 years.
"When I first started in 1979 as a full time teacher, brand new campus, what's really grown are the trees," said Dr. Steve Thomas, President of Midland College. "We have a beautiful campus now, and I think we had 3,000 students, and now we're well over 5,000 students."
With growth comes change. Since Thomas announced his retirement, the board of trustees will be looking for a new president.
"You know, I'm only the fourth president at Midland College in 50 years," said Thomas.
The board will hire a firm to look for candidates, then narrow down that pool even more.
"I would suspect that they would probably reduce the number of candidates down to finalists that they will interview sometime in late spring," said Thomas. "Probably the goal would be to have a new president on board maybe right before I leave, or certainly soon after I leave, so there won't be any hiccups as the college moves forward."
When it comes to the future of Midland College, Thomas wants the college to continue to hold high esteem in Midland and across the state.
"I think through the years Midland College has just built a reputation of being an outstanding institution, and I think that will continue," said Thomas.