Joseph Shepard

Joe Shepard
15th President of Western New Mexico University
Assumed office
July 5, 2011
Personal details
Born
Joseph Shepard
EducationNorthern Arizona University (BS)
University of North Texas (MS)
Florida International University (PhD)

Joseph Shepard is an American academic administrator serving as the 15th president of Western New Mexico University. Appointed on April 27, 2011, he assumed office on July 5, 2011. Following long-standing accusations of corruption and wasteful spending substantiated by the State Auditor, Shepard agreed to resign effective Jan. 15, 2025, having been awarded a severance package of roughly two million dollars by the WNMU Regents. Joseph Shepard is married to Valerie Plame, a former CIA operations officer and author. Plame has faced scrutiny for her use of a university purchasing card, which state investigators have deemed a violation of university policy, as she is not a university employee.