MURRAY – During its regular quarterly meeting today, the Murray State University Board of Regents approved the appointment of Rose Marie Ward to be the university’s next provost and vice president of academic affairs.
Ward currently serves as the University of Cincinnati’s vice president for graduate education as well as dean of the university’s Graduate College.
“I called and spoke to Dr. Ward,” said Board Chair Robbie Fitch. “She’s very excited about the opportunity, and she’s very thankful and can’t wait to get started and to meet everyone.”
The university began a national search after announcing in late August that Tim Todd would step down from the position and return to a tenured faculty position at the end of October.
Search firm Greenwood Asher & Associates assisted with the search.
Ultimately, four finalists were selected – Kimberly Paddock-O’Reilly, vice president for academic affairs at Chadron State College; Laurie Couch, provost and vice president of academic affairs at Salisbury University; Alaric Williams, assistant vice president of academic affairs at Minot State University; and Ward. Each traveled to Murray last week for on-campus interviews.
“Dr. Ward’s an accomplished academic leader, faculty member and administrator,” Fitch added. “She has an extensive research record. She is student-centered and she has been recognized for her dedication to teaching and mentoring. Dr. Ward is a vibrant and engaged leader that will make immediate and long-lasting impacts at Murray State University.”
“I just want to say that this was a collective campus effort,” Patterson said. “Greenwood Asher and Associates did a fantastic job, bringing us candidates. I think we had a tremendous committee that did a lot of wavering, a lot of discussion but also came to a consensus on the candidate, and I follow suit and agree wholeheartedly.”
Following Fitch and Patterson’s remarks, the board held a roll call vote and unanimously approved Ward’s appointment. Her start date will be Feb. 2.
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