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Dr. Steven M. Ralston Named New MSU Provost

MSU

Morehead State University President Wayne D. Andrews announced Tuesday (June 24) that Dr. Steven M. Ralston, Marist College’s dean of the School of Communication and the Arts, has been named MSU’s next chief academic officer/provost.

 “Dr. Ralston is a proven leader with a strong reputation of vision, energy and integrity,” said Dr. Andrews. “I am confident he can lead our faculty and the Division of Academic Affairs to even greater heights as a top tier public regional university.”

Dr. Ralston has been at Marist since 2008. He will assume his new duties on August 1.

 “I am honored to be named Morehead State University’s chief academic officer/provost.  I am grateful to President Andrews and the search committee for the chance to serve the University," said Dr. Ralston.

Dr. Ralston will succeed Dr. Gerald L. DeMoss, who has been acting Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs since August 2013.

“As a University, we cannot thank Dr. DeMoss enough for his leadership during the interim period,” said Dr. Andrews. “It will make the transition even smoother.”

Dr. Andrews described Dr. Ralston as “the right person at the right time” to become MSU’s 11th chief academic officer and the third to hold the title of provost.

Raised in Richmond, Virginia, Dr. Ralston served in the military during the Vietnam era and earned his Ph.D. degree in communication theory and research from Indiana University in 1986. He received a Master of Arts degree in speech communication from the University of Tennessee, and a Bachelor of Arts in speech and theatre from Old Dominion University.

Prior to Marist, Dr. Ralston was professor and chair of the Department of Communication at Northern Illinois University, where he oversaw the university's largest undergraduate major and a sizeable Master of Arts program. Previously, he was professor and chair of the Department of Communication and Visual Art at the University of Michigan-Flint, and director of the Oral Communication Proficiency Program and assistant director of the Teaching and Learning Center at East Tennessee State University. He also has served on the faculty at Iowa State University and Creighton University.

He has written more than 60 articles, papers, and presentations. His research has appeared in numerous scholarly publications including the Journal of Applied Communication Research, Communication Education, the Journal of Business Communication, the Journal of Business and Technical Communication, and the Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal. He is the former editor of the Journal of Business Communication and past president of the East Tennessee Chapter of the American Society for Training and Development. He serves on the editorial review boards of several scholarly journals.

Morehead State University has been recognized for the 10th consecutive year as one of the top public universities in the South in the 2014 edition of "America's Best Colleges" by U.S. News & World Report. The newest rankings include MSU as 24th in the Top Public University-Master’s/South division. 

Additional information is available by contacting Beth Patrick, search committee chair, at 606-783-2053.