Kendall Blanchard Named Interim President of Georgia Southwestern
Atlanta — November 14, 2006
Dr. Kendall Blanchard
University System of Georgia Interim Chief Academic Officer And Executive Vice Chancellor Beheruz N. Sethna announced today that he has appointed Dr. Kendall A. Blanchard, the former president of Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colo., to serve as the interim president of Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW).
Blanchard’s appointment, effective Jan. 17, 2007, follows GSW President Michael L. Hanes’ recent announcement that he is resigning in mid-January. Blanchard will serve as interim president until a national search concludes with the appointment of a permanent president for GSW.
“We are fortunate to have someone with good prior presidential experience available to guide the transition in leadership at Georgia Southwestern State,” Sethna said. “I am confident that the institution will continue to shine in Dr. Blanchard’s hands.”
Blanchard, currently a professor of management and anthropology in the School of Business Administration at Fort Lewis College, served as president of this institution of 4,400-plus students and 200 full-time faculty from 1999 to 2002. Before that, he served as vice chancellor for academic affairs at the University of Tennessee at Martin, Tenn., from 1995 to 1999.
Blanchard also was dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Lamar University in Beaumont, Texas, from 1991 to 1995 and dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Emporia State University in Emporia, Kansas. In addition, from 1978 to 1987, he served as chair of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social Work at Middle Tennessee State University.
Blanchard holds a Ph.D. and a master’s degree, both in anthropology, from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, in 1971 and 1970, respectively. He also earned a master of divinity degree in religion studies and anthropology from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., in 1968, and a bachelor’s degree in English, history and philosophy from Olivet Nazarene College in Kankakee, Ill., in 1964.
Plans regarding the national search for a permanent presidential appointee will be forthcoming in the near future.
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