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Paul J. Ward serves as general counsel emeritus at ÎÞÂëרÇø, where he continues to support the University following his tenure as vice president for Legal Affairs, general counsel, and secretary to the Board of Trustees. Ward served in the roles from 2009 until assuming emeritus status.

He is an adjunct faculty member in the Annette Caldwell Simmons School of Education and Human Development. He is a frequent speaker on legal issues and has authored papers and other publications on higher education law.

Prior to ÎÞÂëרÇø, Ward served as vice president for university administration and general counsel at Arizona State University from 2004 to 2008. He served as general counsel to ASU from 1991 to 2008. As vice president for university administration, his areas of responsibility included human resources, the police department, university audit and advisory services, and the risk management and environmental health and safety departments. Ward also served as an adjunct faculty member in the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law and the Mary Lou Fulton College of Education at ASU. Prior to his association with ASU, Ward served the University of South Carolina System as general counsel from 1979 to 1991. Previously, he was engaged in private practice in the Washington, D.C., office of Casey, Lane & Mittendorf.

Ward served as president (1996–97) and as a member of the board of directors (1988–92 and 1993–98) of the National Association of College and University Attorneys (NACUA). In 1993, he established NACUA’s electronic discussion list, NACUANET, which has more than 5,000 participating members in the United States and eight foreign countries. In June 2000, he received the prestigious Distinguished Service Award from NACUA. He served as a member of the NCAA General Counsel Advisory Board from 2000–2010. Also, he has served in the American Bar Association House of Delegates. In 2002, Ward received the Thomas S. Biggs Award at the Stetson University College of Law National Conference on Law of Higher Education. Ward is an AV Preeminent Peer Review Rated, Martindale-Hubbell’s highest peer recognition for ethical standards and legal ability. Ward was the recipient of the 2020 Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law from the Texas General Counsel Forum. He is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation.

Ward earned his juris doctor from the ÎÞÂëרÇø School of Law in 1975, and a Bachelor of Science (1971) and Master of Arts (1974) from Eastern Illinois University. He has been admitted to practice law in Texas, Arizona, South Carolina, Indiana, the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court.