By UNIVERSITY RELATIONS
Dr. David Blankenship has been selected as interim dean of the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS) at Fort Hays State University. Blankenship currently serves as the interim Vice Provost for Academic Affairs and Director of Graduate Studies at Fort Valley State University in Fort Valley, Ga. Blankenship will assume his new role on July 1, 2021. For this appointment, FHSU worked with The Registry, a firm that works with higher education institutions to place experienced executives in interim executive positions.
According to Dr. Jill Arensdorf, FHSU Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, “Dr. Blankenship brings to FHSU not only relevant experience serving as an interim but also experience serving as a college dean, provost and professor. I look forward to working with Dr. Blankenship and the CAHSS departments and programs to continue to advance the college and FHSU.”
A biologist, Dr. Blankenship earned his Ph.D., M.S. and B.S. degrees from Loma Linda University, in Loma Linda, Calif. In a career that spans more than 30 years, he has held senior academic leadership and faculty positions with public and private institutions in Montana, Wisconsin, Indiana and Illinois. Early in his career, he worked as a research assistant with universities in California and Wyoming and as a biology instructor at the Kamagambo Secondary School in Kenya, East Africa. The current dean of the college, Dr. Paul Faber, plans to retire in July of this year. Faber has served as the interim dean and then dean since 2000. Provost Arensdorf thanked Faber for his more than three decades of service at FHSU, stating, “Dr. Paul Faber’s humble service and leadership have embodied the central mission of FHSU – to provide an accessible quality education to develop engaged global citizen-leaders. I thank him for his dedication to educating others through his role as a faculty member, administrator and mentor to many, including myself.” Faber joined the FHSU faculty in 1983 as an assistant professor of philosophy.