Joy K. Ward

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.

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. 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 and 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 plants have an advantage over plants when atmospheric carbon dioxide levels increase. Additionally, the team found evidence that plants have an advantage over 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

Selected awards and honors 2020: Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Case Western Reserve University 2018: Graduate of the Food Systems Leadership Institute 2017: Elected to lead Scientific Research at the University of Kansas' College of Liberal Arts and Sciences 2016—2017: Women of Distinction Award, University of Kansas 2015: K. Barbara Schowen Undergraduate Research Mentor Award, University of Kansas 2015: Dean's Professor at the University of Kansas 2012—2013: Member of a U.S. delegation to Uzbekistan following a technology agreement through Hillary Clinton; sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the U.S. State Department, Tashkent, Uzbekistan 2011—present: National Academy of Sciences, Frontiers of Science, U.S. chair "These symposia have become a major instrument in bringing together the best young researchers- the next generation of leaders- in the natural sciences and engineering fields, in the U.S. and around the world." National Academy of Sciences Arab-American Frontiers of Science U.S. Chair for the 2015 Symposium (Saudi Arabia) Japanese-American Frontiers of Science U.S. Chair for the 2014 Symposium (Japan) 2011: Named as a top scientist in Kansas history by the Ad Astra Initiative 2010: Member of the board of trustees for the University of Kansas Office of Research 2010—present: Kavli Fellow: Selected by the Kavli Board and the National Academy of Sciences 2009: Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE); Conferred personally by President Obama on January 13, 2010, in the White House "This is the highest honor bestowed by the United States government on outstanding scientists and engineers in the early stages of their independent research careers" White House press release 2009: Lawrence, KS Chamber of Commerce, KU Stars Award 2008—2015: National Science Foundation CAREER Award 2006—2015: Thelma and Edward Wohlgemuth Faculty Scholar Award 1998—1999: American Association of University Women (AAUW). American Post doctoral Fellowship 1997: Perry Prize for the Dissertation of Greatest Distinction. Duke University, Department of Botany 1997: Sigma Xi Travel Award, Duke University 1991:: Hammond Science Scholarship, Penn State University 1991: Amos William and Annie Martha Unger Memorial Scholarship, Penn State University 1988: Pennsylvania State Fair Queen scholarship- University tuition scholarship

All awards and honors have been uploaded from Ward's curriculum vitae

Select publications

McLean BS, JK Ward, MJ Polito, SD Emslie. In press. Responses of alpine herbaceous plant assemblages to low glacial [] revealed by fossil marmot (Marmota) teeth. Oecologia Fuller BT, SM Fahrni, JM Harris, A Farrell, JB Coltrain, LM Gerhart, JK Ward, RE Taylor, JR Southon. In press. Ultrafiltration for asphalt removal from bone collagen for radiocarbon dating and isotopic analysis of Pleistocene fauna at the tar pits of Rancho La Brea. Quaternary Geochronology Voelker, S.L., R. Brooks, F.C. Meinzer, R. Andeson, M. K-F Bader, G. Battipaglia, K.M. Becklin, D. Beerling, D. Bert, J.L. Beltancourt, T.E. Dawson, J. -C Domec, R.P. Guyette, C. Koerner, S.W. Leavitt, S. Linder, J.D. Marshall, M. Mildner, I. Panyushkina, H.J. Plumpton, K.S. Pregitzer, M. Saurer, A.R Smith, R.T.W. Siegwolf, M.C. Stambaugh, A.F. Talhelm, J.C. Tardif, P.K. Van de Water, J.K. Ward, and L. Wingate. 2015. A dynamic leaf gas-exchange strategy is conserved in woody plats under changing [CO2] enrichment studies. Global Change Biology 22(2): 889–902. Becklin KM, JS Medeiros, K Sale, *JK Ward. 2014. Evolutionary history underlies plant physiological responses to global change since the Last Glacial Maximum. Ecology Letters: 17: 691-699 Basheer-salimia R, JK Ward. 2014. Climate change and its effects on olive tree physiology in Palestine. Review Of Research: 3: 1-7 Medeiros JS, JK Ward. 2013. Increasing atmospheric [CO2] from glacial to future concentrations affects drought tolerance via impacts on leaves, xylem and their integrated function. New Phytologist: 199: 738–748. Ward, J. K., D. S. Roy, I. Chatterjee, C. R. Bone, C. J. Springer, and J. K. Kelly. 2012. "Identification of a major QTL that alters flowering time at elevated [CO2] in Arabidopsis thaliana" PLoS ONE. 7. e49028. Gerhart, L. M., J. M. Harris, J. B. Nippert, D. R. Sandquist, and J. K. Ward. 2012. "Glacial trees from the La Brea tar pits show physiological constraints of low CO2" New Phytologist. 194. 63–69. Gerhart, L. M. and J. K. Ward. 2010. "Plant Responses to low [CO2] of the past. Tansley Review" New Phytologist. 188. 674–695. Nippert, J. B., J. J. Butler, G. J. Kluitenberg, D. O. Whittemore, D. Arnold, S. E. Spal, and J. K. Ward. 2010. "Patterns of Tamarix water use during a record drought" Oecologia. 162. 283–292. Nippert, J. B., M. B. Hooten, D. R. Sandquist, and J. K. Ward. 2010. "A Bayesian model for predicting El Niño events using tree-ring widths and cellulose δ18O" Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences. 115. G01011. Gonzalez-Meler, M. A., E. Blanc-Betes, C. E. Flower, J. K. Ward, and N. Gomez-Casanovas. 2009. "Plastic and adaptive responses of plant respiration to changes in atmospheric CO2 concentration" Physiologia Plantarum. 137. 473–484. Ward, J. K., D. A. Myers, and R. B. Thomas. 2008. "Physiological and growth responses of C3 and C4 plants to reduced temperature when grown at low CO2 of the last ice age" Journal of Integrative Plant Biology. 50. 1388–1395. Marchin RM, EL Sage, JK Ward. 2008. Population-level variation of Fraxinus americana L. (white ash) is influenced by precipitation differences across the native range. Tree Physiology 28: 151-159 Springer CJ, JK Ward. 2007. Flowering time and elevated CO2. Tansley Review. New Phytologist 176: 243-255 Ward, J. K.. 2005. "Evolution and growth of plants in a low CO2 world" A History of Atmospheric CO2 and Its Effects on Plants, Animals, and Ecosystems. edited by Ehleringer, J. R., T. E. Cerling, and D. Dearing. 232–257. Ward, J. K., J. M. Harris, T. E. Cerling, A. Wiedenhoeft, M. J. Lott, M. Dearing, J. B. Coltrain, and J. R. Ehleringer. 2005. "Carbon starvation in glacial trees recovered from the La Brea tar pits" Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 102. 690–694. Ward, J. K. and J. K. Kelly. 2004. "Scaling up evolutionary responses to elevated CO2: lessons from Arabidopsis" Ecology Letters. 7. 427–440.