Congratulations to UK ISFE Affiliate, David Blackwell, on becoming Provost!

David Blackwell becomes Provost of the University of Kentucky
January 17, 2018

David W. Blackwell, Ph.D., became provost at the University of Kentucky on January 8, 2018. He serves as the chief academic officer and oversees efforts related to several pressing issues facing the University of Kentucky.

Among others, these include:

   -Strengthening our work in undergraduate student success;

   -Strengthening graduate and professional education;

   -Advancing our research enterprise;

   -Fostering with greater urgency an inclusive campus environment;

   -Cultivating our historic commitment to service and outreach; and

   -Implementing the UK Strategic Plan

Provost Blackwell served as dean of the Gatton College of Business and Economics from 2012-2018. In that capacity, he led the fundraising efforts toward a $65 million expansion and renovation of the Gatton College facility, considered one of the premier business education facilities in the country. The initiative was funded completely with private dollars. Also during his tenure, the college dramatically increased its enrollment and the number of faculty members contributing to the ethnic, racial, and gender diversity of the college.

Before joining the UK family, he served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Programs and Republic Bank/James W. Aston Professor of Finance at Texas A&M University's Mays Business School. Before joining Texas A&M, Provost Blackwell served as a Director in KPMG's Forensic practice and as a Director in PricewaterhouseCoopers' Financial Advisory Services practice. Before his consulting career, he served as a Finance professor for 13 years, teaching at Emory University's Goizueta Business School in Atlanta, the University of Georgia, the University of Houston, and the University of Rochester's William E. Simon School of Business Administration.