I'm a Pathfinder: Dr. Larry Ferguson

Published on Apr 14, 2026

 Dr. Larry Ferguson, President/CEO of Ashland Community & Technical College didn’t just find his start at ACTC. He built his foundation there.

Ferguson grew up in Boyd County in a family that valued hard work and humility.

“My dad was a chemical engineer for Ashland Oil, and my mom was a stay-at-home mother who dove into entrepreneurship later in life. I have two sisters who still live in the area” he said. “It was a good foundational life of working hard and staying humble.”

That foundation would soon guide one of the most pivotal decisions of his life.

After high school, the path forward was clear…at least according to his father. “After high school, my dad gave me one option. ACC,” Ferguson said. “It was the best experience I could have had.”

His father was also a graduate of the college and Ferguson said he had phenomenal instructors who cared about him during his time as a student.

At ACTC, Ferguson pursued an Associate of Arts degree with an emphasis in business communications, a choice that would open doors he hadn’t yet imagined.

Upon graduating from Ashland Community College, Ferguson says he took on a wide array of jobs, some of which included corporate training roles, radio, retail, financial services, and leadership development.

“I started working in corporate training at an early age with several different companies including Hooked on Phonics and Dell Computers. My experiences run the gamut, but all of that ultimately brought me back to ACTC where I started working in the community, workforce, and economic development area,” Ferguson said.

Ferguson began his role as Dean of Workforce, Community, and Economic Development at ACTC in the fall of 2007.

That return to ACTC marked the beginning of a new chapter—one rooted in service, leadership, and giving back to the institution that first gave him direction.

“I had a lot of ambitions when I started out in life and there was no pathway to get there. ACTC gave me that pathway. It showed me who I was and what I could become,” he said.

After serving in various leadership roles at KCTCS and a presidential position at Bevill State Community College in Alabama, Ferguson returned to ACTC in October 2018 to serve as the college’s president, where he carries that same belief into every decision and every student interaction.

He says he knows firsthand what’s possible when someone is given the right start and the right support.

His message to future students is simple, but deeply rooted in experience: “ACTC can be the starting point to take you anywhere you want to go in life.”

Written by: Megan Smedley, ACTC strategic communications administrator