Jody Blanke Named to Endowed Chair in Stetson School of Business and Economics

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ATLANTA – Jordan (Jody) Blanke, professor of computer information systems and law at Mercer University, has been named to the Ernest L. Baskin Jr. Distinguished Chair in the Stetson School of Business and Economics.

The Ernest L. Baskin Jr. Distinguished Chair was created in 2001 through a generous bequest from the estate of Ernest L. “Leo” Baskin Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla. Baskin graduated from Mercer's College of Liberal Arts in 1941 and served in the U.S. Army during World War II. His meritorious service in the infantry earned him numerous honors. Upon returning from the war, Baskin enrolled in the Harvard Business School. After completing his graduate business degree, he moved to Jacksonville and entered the insurance business. He retired from Liberty Mutual Insurance Co. in 1985. He was married to Martha (Harrell) Baskin and was the son of Mercer graduate and Baptist minister the Rev. Ernest L. Baskin and his wife, Mary (Groom) Baskin.

“We are delighted to present this to Professor Blanke for upholding the very highest standards of teaching and scholarship at the Stetson School of Business and Economics,” said Dr. Susan Perles Gilbert, dean of the School. “Alumni routinely describe him as among the toughest and the best of the teachers in the MBA program.”

Blanke has been a member of the Mercer faculty since 1985 and the Stetson School of Business and Economics faculty since 1990, teaching primarily courses on business law and ethics at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and contributing to the development of several new programs and courses.

“Professor Blanke's innovation in the classroom and through the use of technology and teaching has put him at the forefront of instruction and curriculum development. He has worked to ensure that his students are capable of being leaders in the business community,” said Dean Gilbert. “His scholarly work and intellectual contributions to his field have been similarly outstanding.”

Blanke's recent work concerning privacy, copyright law and business on the Internet has been published in leading academic journals, such as The American Business Law Journal, The Columbia Science and Technology Law Review, The Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal and The Boston University Journal of Science & Technology Law. He regularly presents work at national and regional academic business conferences, and serves as a reviewer for several academic journals. He is currently running for national office in the Academy of Legal Studies in Business.

“I am very honored to be awarded this endowed chair,” said Blanke. “I have been very lucky to have been a part of the success of both the Stetson School of Business and Economics and Mercer University as a whole on the Atlanta campus – and I have seen both grow tremendously through the years. I have been fortunate to have taught many remarkable students and to have had many great colleagues at Mercer. To receive an award for doing something you love is just icing on the cake.”

Blanke earned his bachelor's degree in computer science and psychology and his master's degree in computer science from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He went on to earn his law degree from Emory University School of Law in 1980. Prior to joining the faculty at Mercer, he served as an associate in the New York-based law firm of Otterbourg, Houston, Steindler & Rosen and as a law clerk to New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph Cohen.

About the Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics

Established in 1984, Mercer University's Eugene W. Stetson School of Business and Economics is named for Eugene W. Stetson, a 1901 Mercer graduate and business pioneer who leveraged the first major buyout in corporate history. Over the past 80 years, Mercer has granted over 12,000 business degrees, and many of its graduates hold senior leadership positions in companies around the world. Mercer's business school delivers career-focused business education programs and develops entrepreneurial leaders and responsible global citizens. It holds accreditation from the prestigious Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB), which places it among the top five percent of all top business schools worldwide. Mercer's business school has been recognized by the Princeton Review as No. 3 for “Greatest Opportunity for Women” and one of its “Best Business Schools.” In addition, it has been recognized among the “Top 15 Schools in the Nation for Marketing and Accounting.”

The School offers the following programs: Atlanta (Evening BBA, Full-Time MBA, Flexible MBA, Executive MBA and Virtual Professional MBA), Macon (Traditional BBA and Flexible MBA), Savannah (Virtual PMBA), Douglas County and Henry County (Evening BBA). www.mercer.edu/business