2025 Power 50: 27. Lawrence P. Ward
HBJ PHOTO | STEVE LASCHEVER
Lawrence P. Ward began his new job as University of Hartford president on July 1.
Lawrence Ward took the helm of the University of Hartford last July, at a time the roughly 6,000-student school was working to correct financial challenges while confronting demographic shifts that could hinder future enrollment growth.
A native of Vernon with deep family roots, Ward took the job with a three-year contract, but plans for a long tenure. That confidence was reflected in his purchase of a home in Hartford’s West End, not far from the UHart campus, shortly after his arrival.
“Hartford is home,” Ward said in an interview last July. “At age 54, when you finally come home, I don’t do that with the intention that I’m headed anywhere else. My focus will be on what do I do over these next three years that earns the confidence of this community and this board to say: ‘We want Larry to be here a bit longer.’”
Find out who else is in the 2025 Power 50
Ward arrived as the university — a pillar of the greater Hartford community for decades — was navigating its way out of a rough financial patch. It had been forced to hire a financial consultant in December 2022, after failing to meet the required debt service coverage ratio on more than $133.6 million in bonds used for campus improvements and to refinance debt.
The school was back in compliance with bond requirements by the time Ward took the helm. But improving finances remains one of the top objectives of his new administration. Growing enrollment and improving campus culture are other core goals.
The recent debt taken on by the university gave it tools it can use for growth. That includes a new academic building for advanced engineering and health professions, renovated student housing and more.
Ward is focused on improving academic and career outcomes, and growing ties with area industry and government leaders.
In January, UHart announced new undergraduate programs in financial technology and neuroscience.
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