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Beshear announces two appointments to Murray State board

Murray State University

Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed the superintendent of Livingston County Schools and a Paducah attorney to the Murray State University Board of Regents.

Livingston County Schools Superintendent David Meinschein will replace Eric Crigler, whose term on the board expired. Emily Roark, an attorney with Bryant Law Center, will replace Lisa Rudolph, whose term also expired.

The terms for Meinschein and Roark expire on June 30, 2028. In an interview, Meinschein said he is “humbled and honored” to be chosen for the board.

“I was a first generation college student, and I owe a tremendous amount of gratitude to the institution, and to the leaders of the university over the years, that allowed me to receive such a wonderful education,” Meinschein said.

Meinschein graduated from Murray State in 1994 with a degree in biology and chemistry, and he was a part of the first cohort for an education doctoral program at the university. His wife is a 1994 graduate from the university’s nursing program, and Meinschein’s three children are also alumni.

Meinschein said he hopes to continue the “academic excellence, athletic excellence that is Murray State University” by serving on the board. He was previously an assistant superintendent and principal at Ballard County Schools.

A call to Roark’s workplace was not immediately returned Friday afternoon. According to the Bryant Law Center website, Roark is a 1997 Centre College graduate before she attended the University of Kentucky College of Law. She began her career at Bryant Law Center in 2000 and now manages the center’s Mass Tort Division.

“Over her career, Emily has been involved in multi-district litigation and class actions involving train derailments, medical devices such as Essure, transvaginal mesh, and IVC filters, pharmaceuticals such as Abilify and Zantac, products such as 3M earplugs and Roundup, and several different manufacturers of hip replacements,” the website states.

Roark was appointed by Beshear last year to serve as a special justice on the Kentucky Supreme Court.

"Liam Niemeyer is a reporter for the Ohio Valley Resource covering agriculture and infrastructure in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia and also serves Assistant News Director at WKMS. He has reported for public radio stations across the country from Appalachia to Alaska, most recently as a reporter for WOUB Public Media in Athens, Ohio. He is a recent alumnus of Ohio University and enjoys playing tenor saxophone in various jazz groups."
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