Sen. Rand Paul honors retiring Murray State President Dr. Bob Jackson

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – This morning, Sen. Rand Paul hosted an event at his office in Bowling Green honoring the career of Dr. Bob Jackson, the president of Murray State University.

Jackson will be stepping down as president of Murray State and will be taking on a new role as president emeritus. Originally taking the office as interim president in 2018, Jackson officially became president in 2019. During his tenure, the school of nursing saw significant growth and would secure funding for a veterinary school building.

Paul says that under his leadership, the school was able to expand its expertise, especially for those who come from the agricultural sector.

“If you’re looking for people who are the next generation of farmers and agriculture, they’re most likely to be kids of people who are farming in agriculture. So it’s great to have a university that, has expertise in the agricultural sciences and the kids who want to remain in and have an opportunity. And so I see it as serving a great purpose. We’ve worked well with Doctor Jackson over the years, and we wish him success,” Paul said.

Before becoming president of Murray State, Jackson would serve in the Kentucky Senate from 1997 to 2005 for Kentucky’s 1st district and would serve as the Senate Minority Whip from 2003 until 2005.