Joy K. Ward (Dippery) is the Provost and Executive Vice President of Case Western Reserve University. Ward is also a professor of biology in the College of Arts and Sciences, where she served as dean from 2020-2023.

As dean, Ward led dramatic growth by enhancing the educational opportunities for students, advancing research that improves people’s lives, and increasing fundraising for the benefit of student scholarships and other needs of society. She also advanced the impact of arts and humanities at the university.

Under her leadership, the university launched a $60 million initiative to improve mental health, with the goal to increase the number of mental health care providers in the community and to advance research breakthroughs that will improve mental health care worldwide.  Ward also created the Expanding Horizons Initiative, supported by over $9 million in donor contributions, to advance student-faculty collaborations for projects with real-world impact. She also spearheaded the Experimental Humanities Initiative to support new education and research programs that integrate humanities more deeply with science and technology.

As provost, she serves as the chief academic officer of the university where she promotes innovation in academic programs, research and scholarship, and student support. She has led a strategic initiative to add 100 new faculty positions to the university, collaborated on planning for a new Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building, and has overseen the launch of new educational supports for undergraduate students.

An award-winning researcher, Ward is internationally recognized for her work on how plants respond to environmental change, from the last glacial period through the future. She is also co-editor of the book, Photosynthesis, Respiration and Climate Change (Springer 2021). Ward also received the Outstanding Science Alumni Award from Penn State's Eberly College of Science, and the 2009 Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, an award conferred directly by the White House.

Ward received her Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University and her master’s and PhD degrees from Duke University in biology. Ward attributes her early leadership and service growth to Ronald Thomas, who was her high school counselor and who led Key Club, as well as her love of science from the many excellent teachers at Adams Elementary School (especially, Elizabeth Beringer) and Tyrone Area High School.