Academic and construction developments are taking place at Murray State University and President Ron Patterson shared their plans at Thursday’s Hopkinsville Kiwanis Club meeting.
Patterson is the university’s 15th president and began his four-year term in the summer of 2025. Before being selected for the position, Patterson served as the president of Chadron State College in Chadron, Nebraska since April 2023.
Since taking office, Patterson has launched the Listening and Learning Tour to connect with alumni, students, community leaders, educators and university partners to find how they can better serve communities in western Kentucky.
To support local students pursuing higher education, Patterson signed memorandums of understanding with the Christian County Public School System and Hopkinsville Community College.
The agreement signed with CCPS will create the Christian County Racer Academy which will offer dual credit courses for high school students, and the agreement signed with HCC was for a shared faculty position in the teacher education program.
At the university’s main campus, Patterson says they have over $200 million worth of capitol projects either underway or planned for the future. Patterson say construction is currently around 30% completed on a new School of Nursing Building, and they plan to break ground soon on a new residential hall.
Then during last year’s Kentucky General Assembly, the university received state appropriations to construct a veterinarian medical sciences facility, and in November, Patterson says they will seek approval from the Kentucky Postsecondary Education Council to create a doctorate program in veterinary medicine.
Once the program is approved, Patterson says they plan to break ground on the facility and seek accreditation from the American Veterinary Association. The vet school will be located on Murray State’s West Farm and it will be the first in the state.