On September 3, 2002, Jan McDaniel becomes Vice President for College Relations at St. Olaf. Her portfolio of responsibilities include WCAL and, as such, she becomes a board member of the radio station.
She grew up in St. Louis, spent twelve years in the East Coast before moving to Kansas.
McDaniel spent most of her career prior to St. Olaf College in television and radio communications. She was Vice President & General Manager, WCCO-TV, Minneapolis MN, a CBS affiliate. McDaniel returned to CBS from KAKE-TV in Wichita, Kansas, where she had been President and General Manager of the station and of the Kansas Television Network since 1991.
She joined KAKE-TV in 1988 as News Director, and two years later became Vice President of News and Operations. In 1990, she was promoted to Acting General Manager of KAKE-TV and the Kansas Television Network (KAKE-TV, Channel 10, Wichita; KUPK-TV, Channel 13, Garden City; and KLBY-TV, Channel 4, Colby).
Prior to that, she was Washington Bureau Chief for Chronicle Broadcasting Company stations KRON-TV San Francisco, WOWT-TV Omaha and KAKE-TV. McDaniel spent nine years at CBS News, where she began as a radio news writer, editor and producer (1975-76), and then became News Assignment Manager for the CBS News Washington Bureau (1976-84). Before that, she was Executive Editor at WEEI-AM, the CBS-owned radio station in Boston.
She is a graduate of the School of Journalism at the University of Missouri, where she also worked in news at KOMU-TV and KBIA-FM Columbia, MO.
McDaniel had served on the board of directors for many non-profit organizations including Catholic Charities of the St. Paul and Minneapolis area, Minnesota Orchestra, Minnesota Chamber of Commerce and YMCA of Minneapolis.
McDaniel's biography does not show any experience with employment in academic or non-profit environments or in public broadcasting.
McDaniel reportedly has ties to MPR and Bill Kling.
