Regents tap new leadership for Georgia State, first African American to lead the university

The Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia announced this week that M. Brian Blake is its finalist to become the next president for Georgia State University.

A top academic leader at George Washington, Blake served as provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. Blake will replace retiring President Mark Becker, who has led Georgia State for the past 12 years. Becker announced last year his plans to step down.

With his appointment, Blake will be the first African American president of Georgia State, the state’s largest public university with a fall 2020 enrollment of nearly 54,000 students.

Before George Washington University, Blake was provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Drexel University in Philadelphia and held earlier posts at the University of Miami, the University of Notre Dame and Georgetown University.

A native of Savannah, Blake earned a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Master of Science in Electrical Engineering from Mercer University in Atlanta. He also has a doctorate in information and software engineering from George Mason University. The Regents must wait at least five days before voting to install Blake and are likely to vote on his appointment next week.