Kansas University has announced that Jonathan Earle, associate professor of history and associate director of the Dole Institute, will fill the role of interim director of the Dole Institute of Politics.Earle fills in for Bill Lacy, who is heading up the likely presidential campaign of Fred Thompson. Lacy, who left last week, said he expects Earle will be able to slip in cleanly and continue the work of the Dole Institute until his return.”Jon is an outstanding choice. He was there along with other talented people from the time I got there,” Lacy said. “Leaders get credit a lot of time where credit isn’t due. There are a lot of outstanding people at the Dole Institute, and Jon is one of them.”Earle spent the past year as a visiting professor at Occidental College in Los Angeles, but returned earlier this summer. He first joined the Dole Institute in 2003.