Oasis Center names executive director

Oasis Center announced today it has named Tom Ward as its president and chief executive officer.

Ward, who has 30 years of leadership experience in Nashville, will start in mid-May.

"Tom Ward uniquely understands the challenges facing our youth and the opportunities our city provides," said Bill Purcell, Oasis Center board member and former Nashville mayor, in a release. "He is the best possible choice for Oasis, the young people we serve and for Nashville."

Oasis Center provides community-based care for youth experiencing alcohol and drug problems.

Ward is the director of the Principals' Leadership Academy of Nashville (PLAN) — a program of the Department of Leadership, Policy and Organizations at Vanderbilt University. The program, which he helped establish in 2000, helps principals become strong instructional leaders who institute continuous improvement into schools’ cultures.

From 1983 to 2006, Ward served in principal, administrator and assistant principal roles with Metro Nashville Public Schools. His leadership posts included executive principal of Hume-Fogg Academic High School and East Literature Magnet School; Metro Schools’ magnet-school administrator, supervising eight magnet schools; and principal of Meigs Magnet Middle School. He began his career with Metro Nashville Public Schools in 1974 as a science and social studies teacher.

Ward earned his master’s degree in education at Middle Tennessee State University and his bachelor’s degree at Western Kentucky University.