Kenneth W. Winters

Who is Kenneth W. Winters?

Kenneth W. Winters is a Republican former member of the Kentucky State Senate from Murray in western Kentucky, who formerly served as president of Baptist-affiliated Campbellsville University.

Winters was born in Crittenden County, Kentucky, and received his Bachelor of Science degree from Murray State University. He subsequently was awarded a master of science from Indiana University in Bloomington and the Doctor of Education from the University of Northern Colorado in Greeley. Winters served in the United States Army and the Army Reserve. He was dean of the College of Industry and Technology at Murray State. He served from 1988 to 1999 as president of Campbellsville University in Campbellsville, the seat of Taylor County in central Kentucky.

Winters turned seventy in June 2004, the month after he was nominated by his party for the state Senate seat. He won the 2004 general election and was reelected to a second term in 2008, when he defeated the Democrat Carroll Hubbard, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, by 54 to 46 percent. Through his experience in the field of professional education, Winters served as the chairman of the Senate Education Committee; the vice chairman at the time was Vernie McGaha of Senate District 15, which encompasses Russell County. McGaha, who retired from the Senate in 2013, is a retired educator and an alumnus of Campbellsville University.