Historic Investiture of President M. Brian Blake Sept. 16

More About President Blake & The First Lady

President M. Brian Blake

Named Georgia State’s eighth president in 2021, President Blake is a proven academic leader and an acclaimed engineer and computer scientist. Since arriving at Georgia State, Dr. Blake has focused his strategic visioning around central pillars.

He came to Georgia State after two years as Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost at George Washington University, where he oversaw the academic mission of the institution, supporting all academic endeavors and overseeing the research enterprise across the university’s 10 schools and colleges. Prior to joining George Washington in 2019, Blake was Executive Vice President for Academics and the Nina Henderson Provost at Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he led the implementation of a new, responsibility-centered budget model and the president’s strategic plan. He developed the academic vision, “Creating the 21st Century Academic Experience.” During his four-year tenure, Blake helped Drexel recruit its most academically gifted class, achieve the highest retention rate in the university’s history and increase research activity to all-time high levels.

His research has received more than $12 million in funding, and he is an author of more than 200 scholarly publications.

Dr. Blake is the first Black president in the university’s 114-year history. Dr. Blake grew up in Savannah, Ga., and attended Benedictine Military Academy. He and his wife, Bridget, have two sons, Brendan and Bryce.

Dr. Bridget Blake

Dr. Bridget Blake is the First Lady of Georgia State University. In her professional career, she serves as a principal business analyst for the MITRE Corporation. Dr. Bridget, as she is known around campus, received her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Georgia Tech. She holds a master’s degree in business administration with a concentration in management and finance from Johns Hopkins University. In 2021, she earned an executive doctorate in business administration in leadership decision-making from Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. She and President Blake have two sons, Brendan and Bryce.

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Events During Investiture Week

Public events during investiture week include:

• Sunday, Sept. 11: President's Day of Service
• Monday, Sept. 12: Student Involvement Fair
• Wednesday, Sept. 14: Career & Internship Expo
• Thursday, Sept. 15: Ribbon-Cutting of the Convocation Center
• Friday, Sept. 16: Investiture Ceremony
• Saturday, Sept. 17: Family Weekend BBQ and Panthers Football

Additional special invitation events during the week include:

• The kickoff of the National Institute for Student Success (NISS)
• Student Leader Dinner
• Research Innovation and Scholarly Excellence (RISE) Dinner
• Celebration of the upcoming Byrdine F. Lewis College of Nursing and Health Professions Simulation Lab

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What Are the Pillars?

The university is working on its strategic vision for the future. The pillars upon which it is building includes:

1. Research & Innovation: For 25 years, Georgia State has ranked among the top research universities and has been distinguished by the tremendous expansion of its innovative research enterprise. For the past four years we have been the highest-ranked university without an engineering, medical or agricultural school. From across disciplines and through collaboration, we are helping to solve the complex challenges of the 21st century. Georgia State research is on an incredible trajectory. From FY11 through FY21, our research expenditures have more than doubled from $93 million to nearly $200 million, and our scholarly publications, citations and press mentions have never been higher. Can we double this productivity over the next decade? We will ambitiously pursue this continued research growth and impact as we refresh and expand our community of faculty, staff and student scholars.
2. Student Success: Georgia State is committed to student success and has eliminated achievement gaps based on race, ethnicity and income. We are a nationally recognized leader in this area, but we need to continue to push ourselves to go even further. We have dramatically increased graduation rates in our baccalaureate and two-year programs, but we can and should do more. We should continue our ambitious drive toward even better outcomes. The effort will require us to be even more committed to developing and scaling innovative, evidence-based student supports and first-of-their-kind academic pathways that enable our students to earn meaningful, affordable credentials.
3. College to Careers: Georgia industries, government, nonprofit organizations and graduate schools are taking preparatory training into their own hands. Universities need to provide direct preparation for students focusing on “college to career” experiential learning while also facilitating career professionals who return to college to reskill. Adding new, innovative scholarly and corporate opportunities while incorporating existing experiences, such as athletics and military-affiliated programs, into the overall student experience can create better student outcomes and allow us to stand ready to strengthen the workforce. In addition to Georgia State’s existing Quality Enhancement Plan and career-focused projects within our schools and colleges, the next chapter must include further transformation of our infrastructure and facilities while partnering to build shared spaces with key stakeholders who provide postgraduate opportunities for our students. I envision a campus where deep partnerships are co-branded on our buildings and within our learning spaces. We should have the most diverse and the most career-ready students in the nation.
4. Identity and Placemaking: We are one of the most diverse institutions globally in one of the fastest-moving cities. We provide students of all backgrounds access to one of the country’s most innovative and creative learning environments. The identity of the university and our student body should be shared nationwide. We are leading as a model for inclusive excellence, and we must continue to build equity and recognition for faculty, staff and students. We will continue to inform our communities about what we’ve done, where we’re going and what we can do to advance the institution in diversity, equity and inclusion. At the same time, our campus spaces must be the most inviting and rewarding for our students’ collective experience. On the Atlanta Campus, Georgia State can become a “college town downtown,” a sought-after destination for students in our region and globally. Building an even stronger culture within the most intriguing spaces will unify our current community while creating a lifelong connection to the university.

Learn more about the strategic planning process at https://strategic.gsu.edu/.

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Where Can I Learn More About President Blake?

Learn more about President Blake and stay up-to-date by catching his latest blog posts at https://president.gsu.edu.

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Can You Tell Me More About Other Firsts Among African American University Leaders?

There's so much to tell, and it is recognized that the following only scratches the surface. If you are a member of the Georgia State faculty or are library/archival staff, please contact the author here to contribute. Here are only but a few highlights:

Provosts

A Provost has a critical role at any university, and in fact, President Blake himself led in this function at George Washington University before arriving at Georgia State. At Georgia State, the Provost is the Chief Academic Officer, reporting directly to the university president. (You can learn more about what the Provost does here on the Provost's Office website.)

• Cleon C. Arrington was the first African American to lead in this role at Georgia State, as Acting Provost & Vice President for Academic Affairs. He held this role from 1992 to 1994. He also led as the university's vice president for research from 1984 to 1999. The operations center of the university's Center for High Angular Resolution Astronomy is named in his honor.
• Nicolle Parsons-Pollard, the current Interim Provost & Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, is the first African American woman to lead in this role at Georgia State. Since the start of the 2022 calendar year, she has led many of the university's academic operations and initiatives, and she is the honorary co-chair of the university's strategic planning committee. Prior to becoming Interim Provost, she was Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs, starting in the spring of 2020. (Read more about Dr. Parsons-Pollard here.) Her successor in this role is Corrie Fountain, Interim Associate Provost for Faculty Affairs.

Academic Deans

In the context of academic leadership, a dean is responsible for the leadership of degree-granting colleges and schools within Georgia State.

• Rodney Lyn is the current Dean of the School of Public Health and the first African American individual to lead in this role.
• LaVonda N. Reed is the current Dean of the College of Law and the first African American to lead in this role.

Student Success & Engagement

• Allison Calhoun-Brown became Senior Vice President for Student Success in 2020. In her leadership role, she directs the university’s efforts to increase enrollment, retention, progression and graduation by developing strategic initiatives and refining operational processes to support student success.

— Jeremy Craig, Communications Manager for the Office of the Provost