Preceded by John E. Worthen Spouse(s) Mardi Brownell | Name Blaine Brownell Succeeded by Jo Ann M. Gora | |
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Blaine A. Brownell was the 12th President of Ball State University as well as holding positions at other universities across the United States. Brownell is also the former CEO of u21pedagogia.
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Background
Blaine Brownell earned his B.A. degree from Washington and Lee University in Lexington and his M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in United States history from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Brownell held faculty and administrative positions at University of Memphis, University of North Texas in Denton, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Purdue University. Brownell served director of the University of Memphis' Center for International Programs, as well as provost and vice president for academic affairs and a professor of history at the University of North Texas.
Brownell also has experience teaching overseas. He taught as a Fulbright Professor in American History and Urban Studies at Hiroshima University from 1977–1978, a visiting professor at Sichuan University in China in 1978, and an academic specialist for the U.S. Information Agency in Brazil. In 2000, Brownell succeeded John E. Worthen as president of Ball State. He also accepted a tenured appointment as Professor of History and Urban Planning.
Effect on Ball State University
Later career
Informed in June 2003 that the Board of Trustees had decided not to renew his four-year contract as president, which expired a year later, Brownell resigned on January 1, 2004 to become the first President and CEO of U21Pedagogica, the academic quality assurance arm of Universitas 21, a sixteen-member global consortium of major research universities in England, Australia, Canada, and the US, including the University of Virginia, where U21Pedagogica was headquartered. He retained his position as a tenured full professor of History and Urban Planning at Ball State, and was granted a two-year leave of absence. He resigned from U21Pedagogica in 2005, after a significant realignment of the organization. In 2006 he relinquished his tenured appointment at Ball State and began a series of appointments at the University of South Florida St. Petersburg—interim Dean of Business Administration, interim Provost, and Senior Advisor for Planning and International Programs. After retiring in July 2007, he served for several years as a consultant to the Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research in the United Arab Emirates, and specifically at Zayed University (Dubai and Abu Dhabi) and United Arab Emirates University (Al Ain). He also held positions as Chairman of the Board of the International Student Exchange Programs in Washington, D.C. and as Chair of the Charlottesville Committee on Foreign Relations. In 2017 he published a book, Washington and Lee University, 1930-2000: Traditions and Transformation, on the recent history of Washington and Lee University, his alma mater.