UPDATE: (Jan. 6, 2026): In an email sent Monday, Murray State University President Ron Patterson notified the campus community that the search for the university’s next provost and vice president for academic affairs “did not conclude as anticipated.”
“We are moving forward promptly to continue the search with the assistance of Greenwood Asher & Associates, our executive search firm,” Patterson wrote, adding that he is hopeful to have a new provost in place by July 1.
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 the Special Assistant to the Provost at the University of Cincinnati, according to MSU Executive Director of Marketing and Communication Shawn Touney.*
From July 2022 to May of this year, she was UC’s vice provost and dean of the Graduate College. Previously, she spent 20 years at Miami University and ultimately rose to the rank of associate dean of the graduate school. Earlier this year, in addition to submitting her application at Murray State, she applied for the provost position at West Virginia’s Marshall University.
“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 with an annual salary of $250,000. Her anticipated start date is Feb. 2.
Editor’s note: This story was updated with new information on Dec. 16, 2025.
*CORRECTION: A previous version of this article erroneously identified Ward’s position at the University of Cincinnati. We have since confirmed that she now serves as the Special Assistant to the Provost at the University of Cincinnati. We apologize for the error.
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