Joy K. Ward is an American plant biologist and academic administrator who serves as provost and executive vice president at Case Western Reserve University, where she is also a professor of biology. She previously served as dean of the university’s College of Arts and Sciences. Ward’s research focuses on the effects of environmental change on plants and ecosystems, particularly plant responses to atmospheric carbon dioxide. She received the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, awarded by U.S. President Barack Obama. Prior to joining Case Western Reserve University, Ward was a faculty member at the University of Kansas, where she served as associate dean for research and Dean’s Professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. She became dean at Case Western Reserve in 2020 and was appointed provost and executive vice president effective January 1, 2024. As provost, Ward has overseen academic initiatives related to interdisciplinary research, artificial intelligence in education, faculty recruitment, and undergraduate curriculum and advising.
Education Ward received her bachelor's degree in biology from Penn State University in 1991. Moving to Durham, she completed her master's degree in botany in 1994 at Duke. This was quickly followed by a PhD, also from Duke, in botany that was completed in 1997. Since 1997, Ward has also published over 40 peer-reviewed articles.
Research interests Ward's primary research interests focus on how plants adapt to changing environments and conditions. As climate change has become an increasingly urgent issue worldwide, Ward has directed her research to understanding how specific species of plants react to changes in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide. Ward approaches this question holistically, investigating molecular, physiological, and evolutionary changes. Notably, she uses fossil records in her research.
Carbon dioxide impacts Ward has studied the impact of fluctuating carbon dioxide levels on plant adaptation in order to predict future changes. In 1999, Ward examined the differences in response between C3 and C4 plants when exposed to drought in environments that were low in carbon dioxide or high in carbon dioxide. Ward and her team found evidence that C4 plants have an advantage over C3 plants when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase. Additionally, the team found evidence that C4 plants have an advantage over C3 plants when they experience frequent and severe droughts. During this time, Ward also led research studies on the ways that increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide has affected plant species in the past and present. Ward has used her data to predict how plants and future ecosystems and biological processes will operate in the future where atmospheric carbon dioxide levels will become higher.
Carbon Dioxide Implications for the Future Many of Ward's more recent research involves her predictions about the way that increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide will impact plants, ecosystems, and ecology. In 2017, Ward led a study about plant responses to increasing carbon dioxide in the past, present, and future. Ward maintains that studying plants in this manner will allow scientists to better understand and predict the evolutionary consequences that will come with the changing environment. In this study, Ward found evidence for the implications of rising carbon dioxide for integrated plant-water dynamics and drought tolerance, the carbon dioxide effects on symbiotic interactions and evolutionary feedback, and the change in plant mechanisms in response to elevated carbon dioxide levels.
Teaching career 2024—present: Provost and Executive Vice President, Case Western Reserve University 2023—2024: Interim-Provost and Executive Vice President, Case Western Reserve University 2020—2023: Dean, College of Arts and Sciences, Case Western Reserve University 2015—2020: Dean's professor of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Kansas 2015—2020: Professor with tenure, University of Kansas, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (courtesy appointment in environmental studies) 2009—2015: Associate professor with tenure, University of Kansas, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology (courtesy appointment in environmental studies) 2006—2016: Inaugural Thelma and Edward Wohlgemuth Faculty Scholar Award. Endowed chair for early-career faculty, University of Kansas 2003—2009: Assistant professor, University of Kansas, Department of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology 1998—2003: Postdoctoral fellow, University of Utah, Department of Biology 1997—1998: Postdoctoral fellow, University of West Virginia and Duke University, Department(s) of Biology *All positions have been uploaded from Ward's curriculum vitae
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