MURRAY – After interviewing 11 candidates over the last two days, the Murray State University Board of Regents Presidential Search Committee nominated four finalists for the position of president, and the Board of Regents unanimously approved the nominations.
The nationwide search for a new president began after the university’s current president, Robert “Bob” Jackson, announced his retirement in September. Jackson steps down June 30.
At a special called meeting on Jan. 31, the committee met in closed session for more than three hours. Upon reconvening in open session, the committee unanimously approved a list of 11 semi-finalists, but they were only identified by number to protect their anonymity.
The committee held another special called meeting yesterday and spent roughly nine hours in closed session, interviewing candidates. At today’s special called meeting, the committee met in closed session for more than seven hours, emerging around 3:45 p.m. Committee and Board of Regents Chair Leon Owens announced the finalists selected by the committee, this time identifying them by name – Christian Hardigree, Diana Rogers-Adkinson, Chad Tindol and Ron Patterson.
The committee voted to forward the list of finalists to the Board of Regents, who unanimously approved it by a roll-call vote. Following the vote, there was a brief discussion about the logistics of the on-site interviews. At 3:53 p.m., the meeting adjourned.
Christian Hardigree
Hardigree has been the regional chancellor for the University of South Florida (USF) St. Petersburg since 2022. According to her bio on the USF St. Petersburg website, she holds a Juris Doctorate from Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Nevada Las Vegas William F. Harrah College of Hotel Administration.
According to her Linked-in profile, Hardigree has more than 28 years’ experience in academia. She was the founding dean of the School of Hospitality at Metropolitan State University of Denver and founding director of the Michael A. Leven School of Culinary Sustainability and Hospitality at Kennesaw State University.
“I started as a faculty member in the William F. Harrah College of Hospitality, teaching graduate and undergraduate courses in hospitality law, employment law, labor management relations, human resources, ethics, and diversity,” Hardigree wrote in her About section. “Tenured in 2006, I’ve received with several teaching and service awards, while compiling a nationally renowned research and scholarly engagement portfolio. I am a tenured full professor in the USF Muma College of Business (AACSB accredited), and was awarded a Fulbright International Education Administrators grant (France) in 2024. #FulbrightScholar”
She has secured more than $28.7 million in gifts, grants and contracts and worked on capital projects exceeding $246 million over the course of her career, according to her profile. Hardigree also has more than 20 years’ experience as a trial attorney, litigating in the areas of premises liability, security/safety, products liability, discrimination and employment law.
Diana Rogers-Adkinson
Rogers-Adkinson is currently with the Pennsylvania System for Higher Education, serving as its vice chancellor academic affairs and chief academic officer. She earned a Bachelor of Science in education from Ball State University in 1983, according to her Linked-in profile, and between 1989 and 1994, she completed doctoral programs in both counseling and special education.
She started her career in academia as an assistant professor at Wichita State University in 1994. She was a professor and department chair for 13 years at the University of Wisconsin and spent six years at Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO), as the dean of the College of Education.
Since 2019, Rogers-Adkinson has been in Pennsylvania, spending three years as provost and senior vice president for academic affairs at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania, followed by two years as senior vice president and provost at Commonwealth University of Pennsylvania. She has been in her current position for eight months.
Rogers-Adkinson’s bio page on the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education website includes a Q&A section. One query was about what sparked her interest in student and academic affairs administration.
“As a first-generation college student, I experienced numerous ‘oops’ during my degrees from a lack of understanding of the rules and expectations in higher education,” Rogers-Adkinson replied. “I volunteered to be on the university retention committee while at Wichita State as a result. That led to my choosing to engage in leadership initiatives focused on improving student outcomes in higher education. Others then called on me to lead, first as a program coordinator, then as department chair, dean, and provost. I have enjoyed supporting the program, faculty and staff development. I currently have several mentees at varying stages of higher education leadership and am excited to support the SLGs across the system.”
Chad Tindol
Tindol is currently the chief administrative officer at the University of Alabama (UA), a position he has held since 2019. According to his Linked-in profile, he graduated from UA with a Bachelor of Arts in English in 1994. He attended Yale Law School, graduating in 1997.
After a year serving as a law clerk under U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of Alabama W. Harold Albritton, Tindol spent several years in private practice. He has been an adjunct instructor at the UA since 2007, according to his Linked-in page, teaching “The Law & Social Change (Honors Seminar),” “Education Law,” “Higher Education & The Law” and “Local Government Law.”
Over the past 18 years, Tindol has held positions across the higher education spectrum, such as the associate dean for academic services and a senior lecturer at the University of Alabama School of Law and special assistant to the chancellor and deputy general counsel for the University of Alabama System.
Ron Patterson
Patterson is the president of Chadron State College (CSC) in Chadron, Nebraska, a position he has held for almost two years. According to his bio on the CSC website, he graduated from Creighton University in 2022 with a Doctor of Education in higher education administration and leadership. He also holds an Education Specialist degree from Arkansas State University, a Master of Arts from Marietta College, a Bachelor of Science from the University of Tennessee – Southern and Associate of Arts from Northeast Mississippi Community College.
Patterson’s 25 years of experience in higher education, including four years as a former assistant men’s basketball coach and head men’s golf coach at other universities. He spent six years at the University of North Alabama, half of that time as the vice president for diversity, equity and inclusion. Prior to his time at the University of North Alabama, Patterson spent 14 years as an administrator at Marietta College in Ohio, University of Central Arkansas, University of Tennessee Health Science Center and Christian Brothers University in Memphis.
“Patterson is a visionary, scholar-practitioner and possesses a wealth of experience in diversity, equity, and inclusion, enrollment management, program and course development, student, faculty and staff development, strategic planning, assessment, and accreditation,” the bio states. “An interdisciplinary leader by training, his research focuses on continuous improvement in higher education. Patterson’s commitment as a servant leader takes many forms. He has traveled extensively to foster positive relationships between institutions. He has collaborated with governmental agencies in such countries as The People’s Republic of China and Democratic Republic of the Congo to enroll students. At the local and regional level, he often volunteers at community-related functions and speaks frequently to civic groups, professional associations, and community agencies and organizations.”
