Office of the President/Chancellor Records: Dr. Robert Eugene Ward

Robert Ward was born in Cleveland, Ohio on September 13, 1917. He graduated from Eastman School of Music in 1939 and attended Juilliard for two years before joining the United States Army in 1942. While in the Army he directed the 7th Division Band, and was able to finish two compositions while stationed in the Philippines. He met his wife, Mary Benedict Ward, during this time while she was working for the Red Cross. Together, they had five children.

After leaving the Army, Ward returned to Juilliard and received his Artist Certificate in 1946. He taught at Juilliard from 1947-1956 and at Columbia University from 1946-1958. Ward received three Guggenheim Fellowships in 1950, 1951, and 1966, and was awarded a Pulitzer prize in 1962 for his operatic version of Arthur Miller’s The Crucible.

Robert Ward moved to North Carolina in 1967 to serve as President of the North Carolina School of the Arts (NCSA) after the sudden death of Vittorio Giannini in 1966. When the school joined the University of North Carolina system in 1972, Ward’s title shifted from President to Chancellor. During his tenure he oversaw the establishment of the School of Design and Production, separate from the School of Drama, as well as the high school Visual Arts program. Ward served as the school’s top official for seven years, stepping down in 1974. Martin Sokoloff was named acting Chancellor, while Ward continued as a member of NCSA’s faculty. He left NCSA in 1979 when he became the Mary Duke Biddle Professor of Music at Duke University, a position he would hold for ten years. In 2011, Ward was presented with the National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honors award. His achievements also earned him four honorary doctorates from the Peabody Conservatory, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Duke University, and North Carolina State University. Robert Eugene Ward passed away in Durham, North Carolina on April 3, 2013 at the age of 95.