President's Office

John P. Marsden, Ph.D. became the tenth president of Midway University on February 1, 2013.  A transformational leader, he collaboratively managed a turnaround of Midway University through expansion of academic and athletic programs, coeducation, international partnerships, and financial stewardship.  Midway University has had seven years of enrollment growth—reaching 1945 students in fall 2023—with record numbers of traditional undergraduate, graduate, and dual credit students.   This growth has been achieved while holding tuition rates, balancing operating budgets, and reducing debt by 38%.   During his tenure, Midway University has added eleven new majors, six new minors, two new graduate programs, a dual graduate degree, and six new graduate concentrations while reducing the student to faculty ratio.  The university also has expanded athletics and now fields 28 varsity programs.     

To sustain enrollment growth, Dr. Marsden has successfully spearheaded several major construction and renovation projects across campus, completing them all without incurring new debt.  These include the new Hunter Field House, the new Tracy Farmer-Don Ball Stadium, a new equine barn, the renovation of Marrs Hall which includes the new Ann J. Bowling Welcome Center, the top to bottom renovation of Pinkerton Hall converting it back to a residence hall, bathroom renovations in Belle Wisdom Residence Hall and Buster Residence Hall, and the rebuilding of the tennis courts.

Dr. Marsden’s success was recognized in 2018 by Bluegrass Tomorrow, an organization focused on quality of life in the 18-county Bluegrass Region, when he received the Excellence in Education Vision Award for his work at Midway University.  He currently serves on the Committee on Tax Policy for the Washington, DC-based National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), on the Executive Committee and as Vice Chair for the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU), as a member of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) Board of Trustees, and on the Board of Trustees for Bluegrass Community Hospital.  He also serves on the Editorial Board for the Journal of Aging and Environment.  He previously served on the Board of Directors for the Washington, DC-based Council of Independent Colleges (CIC).

Dr. Marsden’s career in higher education includes teaching a range of courses from the undergraduate level to the doctoral level; administration as a provost and head of university strategic planning; and authorship or co-authorship of four books in the areas of assisted living and dementia care settings as well as many book chapters, articles, and presentations.  A first-generation American, he was raised on Long Island, NY.  He earned a BArch with a minor in Industrial Management from Carnegie Mellon University, a MArch and Graduate Certificate in Gerontology from the University of Arizona, and a PhD and MS from the University of Michigan.  Dr. Marsden and Mrs. Margaret Marsden, a graduate of Auburn University School of Pharmacy, have one son, Will.