Born in Shattuck and raised in Seiling, Ward is the former chairman and chief executive officer of SandRidge Energy, Inc. He also previously served as president, chief operating officer, and a director of Chesapeake Energy Corporation, co-founded on a handshake with Aubrey K. McClendon. Ward is currently Chairman and CEO of Tapstone Energy.

Ward graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 1981 with a Bachelor of Business Administration in Petroleum Land Management. Ward serves on the board of trustees of Anderson University in Anderson, Indiana, and The First Tee.

With his son, in 2006 Ward co-founded White Fields, Inc., offering a continuum care program and a home for severely abused and neglected boys until they are out of high school. It is important to Ward that these young men know they always will have a place to call “home.” He has provided scholarship funds to Oklahoma colleges and universities to increase the access for students to higher education and encourage them to remain in Oklahoma to live and work after they have earned their degree.

Believing everyone deserves a second chance, Ward and SandRidge worked closely with Alva’s minimum security Bill Johnson Correctional Center. Through the partnership, rehabilitated, non-violent inmates earn the opportunity to return to the workforce.