M. Brian Blake
Dr. M. Brian Blake is the first Black and 8th President of Georgia State University; he began this role on August 9, 2021.
Most recently, Blake served as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at George Washington University, where 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 Drexel’s highest levels of all time.
Blake also was vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School at the University of Miami in Miami, FL. He was an associate dean for research and professor at the College of Engineering at the University of Notre Dame.
Prior to Notre Dame, Blake was on the faculty of Georgetown University where he was chair of the Department of Computer Science. He was chair and director of graduate studies during the inaugural years of the university’s first graduate program in computer science. As a Distinguished University Professor of Systems and Software Engineering, Blake had appointments in the Department of Computer Science, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, and the Department of Neuroengineering.
Blake spent six years as a software architect with Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and The MITRE Corporation. Blake has a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Georgia Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in electrical engineering from Mercer University and a Ph.D. in information and software engineering from George Mason University.
