Ernest H. Ern, who has served the University of Virginia in many important capacities during his 38-year career in Charlottesville, has been named interim chancellor at UVa-Wise. He will serve a one-year appointment.
      Ern, who begins his new role in late May, will serve as chancellor while the College conducts a search to replace outgoing chancellor Steven H. Kaplan, who leaves in June to become president of the University of New Haven.

     “I am delighted Ernie Ern has agreed to take on the chancellorship at Wise,” U.Va. President John T. Casteen said. “He will provide steady leadership that will ensure that the College continues its progress during this year of transition. I am committed to supporting him in every possible way, and I look forward to working alongside him in the coming year.”
      Casteen said Ern, who will come out of retirement to take the position, has a long history of dedicated service to the University and to schools and colleges generally. The depth and breadth of Ern’s experience in higher education, Casteen said, will be key in keeping the College at Wise moving forward with its current initiatives.
      Reporting directly to Casteen, Ern will be charged with leading the College’s administrative team in overseeing academic programs, fiscal matters, campus life, private fund raising and local and state relationships. While he will be the liaison between the College and the University’s Board of Visitors, he also will work closely with James M. Gott, chairman of the UVa-Wise Board, and all of its members.
      'Throughout my various administrative assignments in Charlottesville, my personal and professional associations with faculty and staff at the College at Wise and with friends in Southwest Virginia have been especially meaningful, productive and enjoyable in every way,” Ern said. “Accordingly, my wife and I very much look forward to serving the College and the University during this transitional period in the most effective way possible.”
      Ern retired from the University in 2000, having served for the last nine years as senior vice president. He joined the University in 1962 as an assistant geology professor. His scholarly work included analyses of geological conditions related to mining in the Appalachian region, as well as detailed analyses of rock formations in central Virginia and the Appalachian region.
      Three years after joining the U.Va. faculty, he became assistant dean in the College of Arts & Sciences. He then served as dean of admission from 1967 to 1973. For the next 20 years he was vice president of student affairs. In 1993, the same year he became senior vice president, the Board of Visitors established the Ernest H. Ern Distinguished Professorship in Environmental Sciences and named him a University professor, U.Va.’s highest academic rank. University professors have the capacity to teach in any of the University’s schools and colleges. In 1998, Ern received the Algernon Sydney Sullivan Award for excellence of character and service to humanity. Ern, with his wife Petie, will move to Wise in June.

     Gilmer W. Blackburn, a historian with more than 30 years of
experience in higher education, will become the next provost and
senior vice chancellor at UVa-Wise.

      "I am pleased Mr. Blackburn has agreed to join the College at Wise,” U.Va. President John T. Casteen said. “He will arrive during a time of transition at the College and his leadership and experience in higher education will be key to helping guide the college community in the coming years.”
      Blackburn will assume his duties on July 1. An accomplished scholar, Blackburn will hold professorships in both history and
education. Blackburn is currently coordinator of special projects at Gardner-Webb University in Boiling Springs, N.C. He came to Gardner-Webb in 1968 as a professor of history and has continued to serve the institution in a variety of administrative roles including director of graduate studies, associate dean of academic affairs, and dean of academic affairs. Before being named to his current post in 2003, Blackburn spent a decade as vice president and dean of academic affairs. During his time at Gardner-Webb, Blackburn helped develop a new core curriculum, which was recognized as one of the most distinctive in the nation, and also oversaw the creation of an MBA program and graduate-level courses in education, counseling and nursing.
     "I am extraordinarily excited about beginning my work at
UVa-Wise,” Blackburn said. “I look forward to working to continue to enhance the quality of the College and to continue to expand its academic offerings.”
      Blackburn was selected to become the College’s chief academic officer following an extensive national search process. He will fill the vacancy left by the departure of J. David Smith who resigned his administrative post last August.
      A former Fulbright Scholar to Germany, Blackburn is the author of Education in the Third Reich: A Study of Race and History in Nazi Textbooks as well as numerous scholarly articles and presentations. A North Carolina native, Blackburn completed the first two years of his undergraduate education at Gardner-Webb. He graduated from Wake Forest University with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in history and went on to earn his doctoral degree in education from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Blackburn and his wife, Martha Burke Blackburn, a retired kindergarten teacher, will move to Wise in June.