WELCOME,
PRESIDENT
BLAKE
Georgia State’s new president returns to his home state ready to engineer the university’s next chapter.
Written by William Inman (M.H.P. ’16)
Top Photo by Steven Thackston
First-Year Convocation is when the incoming class is welcomed to campus. It’s a formal event — faculty don academic regalia, a keynote speaker delivers a rousing address and the university president officially inducts the students into the Georgia State University family.
For M. Brian Blake, Georgia State’s new president in just his second week on the job, convocation is his first chance to see the university’s lifeblood — its students. This group, masked-up and streaming through the Sports Arena on a sweltering August day, is an exceptional one: It’s the largest, most qualified and most diverse first-year class in Georgia State’s history.
“You are always going to be extra special to me,” Blake tells them. “We all started together and I’m looking forward to all of us succeeding together.”
Blake is Georgia State’s first Black president — just 8 percent of college presidents are Black, according to the American Council on Education — and he’s a Georgia native. He’s back home to lead the state’s largest institution after holding academic posts at Georgetown, Notre Dame, the University of Miami, Drexel and, most recently, as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at George Washington. He succeeds Mark P. Becker, who led the university through unparalleled growth and development during his 12 years as president.
Blake is an engineer and computer scientist — another rarity among college presidents — and spent six years as a software architect and expert developer. He was a member of an elite group of consultants working in the private sector and finishing his Ph.D. at George Mason University when he was cajoled by a colleague to consider teaching.
“I was hired as an adjunct at Georgetown,” Blake says, “and I just fell in love with it.”
At Georgia State, the first public university he’s worked for, Blake leads an institution with an enrollment surpassing 54,000 and a proven reputation of getting students from all walks of life to graduation.
“I could not be more excited to play a part in the transformation of the lives of students,” Blake says, “many of whom had beginnings just like my own.”
First-Year Convocation is when the incoming class is welcomed to campus. It’s a formal event — faculty don academic regalia, a keynote speaker delivers a rousing address and the university president officially inducts the students into the Georgia State University family.
For M. Brian Blake, Georgia State’s new president in just his second week on the job, convocation is his first chance to see the university’s lifeblood — its students. This group, masked-up and streaming through the Sports Arena on a sweltering August day, is an exceptional one: It’s the largest, most qualified and most diverse first-year class in Georgia State’s history.
“You are always going to be extra special to me,” Blake tells them. “We all started together and I’m looking forward to all of us succeeding together.”
Blake is Georgia State’s first Black president — just 8 percent of college presidents are Black, according to the American Council on Education — and he’s a Georgia native. He’s back home to lead the state’s largest institution after holding academic posts at Georgetown, Notre Dame, the University of Miami, Drexel and, most recently, as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost at George Washington. He succeeds Mark P. Becker, who led the university through unparalleled growth and development during his 12 years as president.
Blake is an engineer and computer scientist — another rarity among college presidents — and spent six years as a software architect and expert developer. He was a member of an elite group of consultants working in the private sector and finishing his Ph.D. at George Mason University when he was cajoled by a colleague to consider teaching.
“I was hired as an adjunct at Georgetown,” Blake says, “and I just fell in love with it.”
At Georgia State, the first public university he’s worked for, Blake leads an institution with an enrollment surpassing 54,000 and a proven reputation of getting students from all walks of life to graduation.
“I could not be more excited to play a part in the transformation of the lives of students,” Blake says, “many of whom had beginnings just like my own.”
ENTREPRENEURIAL UPBRINGINGS
Malworsth and Jeneva Blake owned and operated Blake’s Chevron, a full-service gas station at 2201 Bay St. in an industrial corridor in Savannah, Ga., when Brian and his older sister, Kimberly, were young. Malworsth figures Brian started pumping gas there at around age 9.
“Everyone called him ‘Little Blake,’” Malworsth says. “He was just this little guy, but he would earn more money in a day than I would just in tips.”
The family was hard-working, community-focused and tight-knit. By age 12, “Little Blake” was in charge of the station’s inventory.
“He was basically running the place,” Malworsth remembers. “I’d let him and his sister open and close the station. They could run the place better than I could when they were that young.”
The days were long, but the station supported the family and Blake’s Chevron was a fixture in the West Savannah neighborhood for years.
“I learned a lot,” Blake says. “My father taught me a great deal about work ethic, and the entrepreneurship training has followed me throughout my career.”
A young Blake also discovered he had a knack for picking up new technology. When he was a fifth-grader, Malworsth bought an Apple IIe — one of the very first personal computers on the market — to modernize the gas station’s accounting processes.
“Within three months there was an inch of dust on it,” Blake says, laughing. “He never used it.”
Before long, Blake was writing programs for video games on his dad’s computer. Soon after, he was winning coding competitions. In high school, he wrote a program that monitored gas delivery to individual stations. Similar programs are now omnipresent in the industry.
“There were hundreds of programs I wrote on that old machine,” he says.
He attended Benedictine Military School in Savannah, an all-male Catholic school, where the rigors held a few hard lessons but sharpened his leadership.
“I was a squad leader, and my squad started singing this inappropriate song and they got caught before I could get them to shut up,” he remembers. “The instructor told me, ‘Hey, that’s on you.’ In military school, you learn about collective liability and taking responsibility very quickly.”
ENTREPRENEURIAL UPBRINGINGS
Malworsth and Jeneva Blake owned and operated Blake’s Chevron, a full-service gas station at 2201 Bay St. in an industrial corridor in Savannah, Ga., when Brian and his older sister, Kimberly, were young. Malworsth figures Brian started pumping gas there at around age 9.
“Everyone called him ‘Little Blake,’” Malworsth says. “He was just this little guy, but he would earn more money in a day than I would just in tips.”
The family was hard-working, community-focused and tight-knit. By age 12, “Little Blake” was in charge of the station’s inventory.
“He was basically running the place,” Malworsth remembers. “I’d let him and his sister open and close the station. They could run the place better than I could when they were that young.”
The days were long, but the station supported the family and Blake’s Chevron was a fixture in the West Savannah neighborhood for years.
“I learned a lot,” Blake says. “My father taught me a great deal about work ethic, and the entrepreneurship training has followed me throughout my career.”
A young Blake also discovered he had a knack for picking up new technology. When he was a fifth-grader, Malworsth bought an Apple IIe — one of the very first personal computers on the market — to modernize the gas station’s accounting processes.
“Within three months there was an inch of dust on it,” Blake says, laughing. “He never used it.”
Before long, Blake was writing programs for video games on his dad’s computer. Soon after, he was winning coding competitions. In high school, he wrote a program that monitored gas delivery to individual stations. Similar programs are now omnipresent in the industry.
“There were hundreds of programs I wrote on that old machine,” he says.
He attended Benedictine Military School in Savannah, an all-male Catholic school, where the rigors held a few hard lessons but sharpened his leadership.
“I was a squad leader, and my squad started singing this inappropriate song and they got caught before I could get them to shut up,” he remembers. “The instructor told me, ‘Hey, that’s on you.’ In military school, you learn about collective liability and taking responsibility very quickly.”
EARLY INVESTMENT
M. Brian Blake opened his first bank account when he was 11 years old with tips he earned from his dad’s gas station.
Year after year, all the way through his time at Georgia Tech, Blake would sock away money he earned working summers into the account. By his senior year in college, he’d saved up a tidy sum.
“So, I bought my first house as a college senior,” he says. “I put a down payment on it with money from the account I started when I was 11 years old."
EARLY INVESTMENT
M. Brian Blake opened his first bank account when he was 11 years old with tips he earned from his dad’s gas station.
Year after year, all the way through his time at Georgia Tech, Blake would sock away money he earned working summers into the account. By his senior year in college, he’d saved up a tidy sum.
“So, I bought my first house as a college senior,” he says. “I put a down payment on it with money from the account I started when I was 11 years old."
Blake moved to Atlanta in 1989, for the first time, to study electrical engineering at Georgia Tech. After graduation, he was accepted into General Electric’s Edison Engineering Development Program, a management training program for some of the country’s top engineers. He earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Mercer University while working his way through the Edison program.
While still in graduate school, Blake was hired on at Lockheed Martin in Atlanta as a member of an exclusive 50-person software engineering team. At Lockheed, he traveled across the country to solve software integration issues for major corporations like BellSouth, MCI and Bank of America.
“It was such a pivotal point in my career,” Blake remembers. “I thought, ‘I need to go get my Ph.D. because I want to be the guy who runs something like this.’”
He earned his Ph.D. in information and software engineering from George Mason University while working full time for Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and eventually The MITRE Corporation, where he worked as an expert-level systems consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate its databases across air traffic controller units.
While working toward his doctorate degree, Blake reconnected with fellow engineer Bridget Innerarity, whom he met when the two were undergrads at Georgia Tech. Bridget was working toward her MBA at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Blake, smitten with the pretty girl he met back when he was working as a front desk attendant at Tech’s Campus Recreation Center, recruited her to join him at MITRE.
That was more than two decades ago, and Bridget Blake has been with the company as an engineer and project manager ever since. Brian and Bridget have been married for 20 years and they have two sons, Brendan and Bryce.
“It’s an amazing partnership,” Bridget says. “Both personally and professionally we rely on each other, and it’s fulfilling when we can see each other achieve our goals. It’s been so fun to see him work his way up to this point.”
As Blake emerged as a leader in the field, he was sought out by up-and-coming engineers, contemporaries and the well-established alike for his knowledge and mentorship, particularly among a burgeoning community of Black engineers and computer scientists.
“Brian was like this mythical entity,” says Raheem Beyah, dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. “There were always these incredible stories out there about him and what he was doing.”
Beyah, a former assistant professor of computer science at Georgia State, says Blake has been instrumental throughout his academic career.
“I’ve been lucky to have his ear for guidance,” Beyah says. “Brian is really good at helping you appreciate your strengths. He’s served as a mentor for so many, and he gives advice that he’s lived by.”
Blake moved to Atlanta in 1989, for the first time, to study electrical engineering at Georgia Tech. After graduation, he was accepted into General Electric’s Edison Engineering Development Program, a management training program for some of the country’s top engineers. He earned his master’s degree in electrical engineering from Mercer University while working his way through the Edison program.
While still in graduate school, Blake was hired on at Lockheed Martin in Atlanta as a member of an exclusive 50-person software engineering team. At Lockheed, he traveled across the country to solve software integration issues for major corporations like BellSouth, MCI and Bank of America.
“It was such a pivotal point in my career,” Blake remembers. “I thought, ‘I need to go get my Ph.D. because I want to be the guy who runs something like this.’”
He earned his Ph.D. in information and software engineering from George Mason University while working full time for Lockheed Martin, General Dynamics and eventually The MITRE Corporation, where he worked as an expert-level systems consultant for the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate its databases across air traffic controller units.
While working toward his doctorate degree, Blake reconnected with fellow engineer Bridget Innerarity, whom he met when the two were undergrads at Georgia Tech. Bridget was working toward her MBA at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, and Blake, smitten with the pretty girl he met back when he was working as a front desk attendant at Tech’s Campus Recreation Center, recruited her to join him at MITRE.
That was more than two decades ago, and Bridget Blake has been with the company as an engineer and project manager ever since. Brian and Bridget have been married for 20 years and they have two sons, Brendan and Bryce.
“It’s an amazing partnership,” Bridget says. “Both personally and professionally we rely on each other, and it’s fulfilling when we can see each other achieve our goals. It’s been so fun to see him work his way up to this point.”
As Blake emerged as a leader in the field, he was sought out by up-and-coming engineers, contemporaries and the well-established alike for his knowledge and mentorship, particularly among a burgeoning community of Black engineers and computer scientists.
“Brian was like this mythical entity,” says Raheem Beyah, dean of the College of Engineering at Georgia Tech. “There were always these incredible stories out there about him and what he was doing.”
Beyah, a former assistant professor of computer science at Georgia State, says Blake has been instrumental throughout his academic career.
“I’ve been lucky to have his ear for guidance,” Beyah says. “Brian is really good at helping you appreciate your strengths. He’s served as a mentor for so many, and he gives advice that he’s lived by.”
AN ACADEMIC LEAP
Blake was hired by Georgetown in 1999 as an adjunct professor of computer science, and he continued his consulting work. Four years later, he was named the “most promising engineer/scientist in industry” by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology Magazine.
A year after that, Blake became the youngest Black tenured computer science professor in the country. In 2007, he was chosen to chair Georgetown’s Department of Computer Science — the first Black chair in the university’s history — and was named the inaugural director of graduate studies in computer science.
More accolades poured in as he shifted to scholarly research, and Blake was in high demand in the academy.
The University of Notre Dame hired him as associate dean to lead its research and graduate education mission in the College of Engineering in 2009, and, once again, he became the first Black tenured professor in the department.
At Notre Dame, he leaned into mentoring students and addressing systemic problems he saw in higher education.
“I wanted to improve the climate for the Black and Latino Ph.D. students so, each month, I would take a group of them out to dinner,” he says. “They gave me insight into their challenges, and I was able to effect change on some of the things that they were experiencing.”
In 2012, Blake joined the University of Miami as vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School. At Miami, he moved into a larger administrative role overseeing graduate programs in 12 of the university’s schools.
He was hired by Drexel University in Philadelphia just three years later as the Nina Henderson Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. As the university’s highest-ranking academic officer, he helped recruit the school’s most academically gifted class, achieve the highest retention rate in its history and increase research activity to its highest level.
Blake made the lateral move in 2019 to become provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at George Washington University after being encouraged by President Thomas LeBlanc, his mentor and old boss at the University of Miami.
When the Georgia State job opened up, Blake says, “it immediately felt like the perfect match.”
“Georgia State will excel under Dr. Blake’s leadership,” says former University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “He has outstanding experience and understands the university’s mission to provide students everything from access to a college degree to top-tier research opportunities.”
Beyah, his friend up the road at Georgia Tech and the former Georgia State professor, agrees.
“He’s a strategist, a leader and he cares deeply about students and seeing that they succeed,” Beyah says. “He’s a brilliant mind, but he’s also humble — he’ll learn and take advice. He’ll be a dynamic president at Georgia State.”
AN ACADEMIC LEAP
Blake was hired by Georgetown in 1999 as an adjunct professor of computer science, and he continued his consulting work. Four years later, he was named the “most promising engineer/scientist in industry” by U.S. Black Engineer and Information Technology Magazine.
A year after that, Blake became the youngest Black tenured computer science professor in the country. In 2007, he was chosen to chair Georgetown’s Department of Computer Science — the first Black chair in the university’s history — and was named the inaugural director of graduate studies in computer science.
More accolades poured in as he shifted to scholarly research, and Blake was in high demand in the academy.
The University of Notre Dame hired him as associate dean to lead its research and graduate education mission in the College of Engineering in 2009, and, once again, he became the first Black tenured professor in the department.
At Notre Dame, he leaned into mentoring students and addressing systemic problems he saw in higher education.
“I wanted to improve the climate for the Black and Latino Ph.D. students so, each month, I would take a group of them out to dinner,” he says. “They gave me insight into their challenges, and I was able to effect change on some of the things that they were experiencing.”
In 2012, Blake joined the University of Miami as vice provost for academic affairs and dean of the Graduate School. At Miami, he moved into a larger administrative role over-seeing graduate programs in 12 of the university’s schools.
He was hired by Drexel University in Philadelphia just three years later as the Nina Henderson Provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. As the university’s highest-ranking academic officer, he helped recruit the school’s most academically gifted class, achieve the highest retention rate in its history and increase research activity to its highest level.
Blake made the lateral move in 2019 to become provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at George Washington University after being encouraged by President Thomas LeBlanc, his mentor and old boss at the University of Miami.
When the Georgia State job opened up, Blake says, “it immediately felt like the perfect match.”
“Georgia State will excel under Dr. Blake’s leadership,” says former University System of Georgia Chancellor Steve Wrigley. “He has outstanding experience and understands the university’s mission to provide students everything from access to a college degree to top-tier research opportunities.”
Beyah, his friend up the road at Georgia Tech and the former Georgia State professor, agrees.
“He’s a strategist, a leader and he cares deeply about students and seeing that they succeed,” Beyah says. “He’s a brilliant mind, but he’s also humble — he’ll learn and take advice. He’ll be a dynamic president at Georgia State.”
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
About a week after he got his official Georgia State email address, Blake helped unload cars and haul suitcases into the Piedmont Central residence hall on move-in day. When the Panthers football team kicked off its season Sept. 4, Blake tossed the coin after he and his two sons rushed onto the field with members of the first-year class.
“I stayed upright, thank goodness,” Blake says, laughing. “And the boys loved it.”
Bridget Blake says Brian is a huge sports fan, and that he’ll make it to every Panthers game possible.
“There are always footballs flying around the house,” she says.
In early September, he embarked on a listening tour of Georgia State’s six campuses, speaking to faculty, staff and students and spending more than an hour after each talk engaging one-on-one with members of the audience. He shook hands and elbow bumped everyone who lined up to meet him, introducing himself as Brian and warmly chatting with each person for several minutes. Students snapped selfies and asked for advice. Faculty members raised questions about pay equity and tenure. He fielded questions on parking, internships and mask-wearing, taking notes and promising to follow up. Of the hundreds he met, most were well-wishers offering their congrats and assistance during his transition.
He is making the rounds with legislators, donors and external audiences as well, with plans to meet with restaurant owners and city leaders. In every meeting, email and communication, he’s asked for feedback and has incorporated what he hears into actionable items. He wants to attend church services to get to know the community and he’s passionate about building the Georgia State culture locally and globally.
“We’re the anchor institution for the city,” Blake says. “We graduate more students than any other school in the state. If you look across the country, I don’t think there is a place that has both the access and the research outcomes that we have. That’s a unique feature, and it provides perspective to the community.
“We can solve problems that other places can’t,” he says.
He recently joked about getting lost on campus, telling a group how challenging it was for him to get from the Student Center through the new greenway and back to Centennial Hall. He found himself on the Library North terrace looking out over campus when a student, not realizing she was talking to the new president, offered to give him some directions. He’s still finding his way, he says.
There’s no doubt he will.
Photos by Meg Buscema, Carolyn Richardson and Steven Thackston.
THE FIRST 100 DAYS
About a week after he got his official Georgia State email address, Blake helped unload cars and haul suitcases into the Piedmont Central residence hall on move-in day. When the Panthers football team kicked off its season Sept. 4, Blake tossed the coin after he and his two sons rushed onto the field with members of the first-year class.
“I stayed upright, thank goodness,” Blake says, laughing. “And the boys loved it.”
Bridget Blake says Brian is a huge sports fan, and that he’ll make it to every Panthers game possible.
“There are always footballs flying around the house,” she says.
In early September, he embarked on a listening tour of Georgia State’s six campuses, speaking to faculty, staff and students and spending more than an hour after each talk engaging one-on-one with members of the audience. He shook hands and elbow bumped everyone who lined up to meet him, introducing himself as Brian and warmly chatting with each person for several minutes. Students snapped selfies and asked for advice. Faculty members raised questions about pay equity and tenure. He fielded questions on parking, internships and mask-wearing, taking notes and promising to follow up. Of the hundreds he met, most were well-wishers offering their congrats and assistance during his transition.
He is making the rounds with legislators, donors and external audiences as well, with plans to meet with restaurant owners and city leaders. In every meeting, email and communication, he’s asked for feedback and has incorporated what he hears into actionable items. He wants to attend church services to get to know the community and he’s passionate about building the Georgia State culture locally and globally.
“We’re the anchor institution for the city,” Blake says. “We graduate more students than any other school in the state. If you look across the country, I don’t think there is a place that has both the access and the research outcomes that we have. That’s a unique feature, and it provides perspective to the community.
“We can solve problems that other places can’t,” he says.
He recently joked about getting lost on campus, telling a group how challenging it was for him to get from the Student Center through the new greenway and back to Centennial Hall. He found himself on the Library North terrace looking out over campus when a student, not realizing she was talking to the new president, offered to give him some directions. He’s still finding his way, he says.
There’s no doubt he will.
