The Kentucky Community and Technical College System Board of Regents has selected Ryan Quarles, Ed.D. and J.D., as its fourth president. Quarles was first elected Commissioner of Agriculture in KY in 2016 and from 2011 to 2016, he served as a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives. He has spent 13 years in public service. KCTCS consists of 16 community and technical colleges.
According to the press release announcing the appointment, Quarles was first introduced to higher education policy as a college student, when he was appointed by then Governor Fletcher as the student representative to the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education, the state’s higher education coordinating agency.
Quarles previously served as associate general counsel at Georgetown College and he worked in private practice.
He earned his JD from the University of Kentucky College of Law, an M. Ed. from Harvard University, and an Ed.D. in higher education administration from Vanderbilt University.