UVa set to lose longtime dean

The University of Virginia’s longtime dean of admissions announced Monday that he will retire in June 2009.

John A. Blackburn, 66, has been UVa’s top admissions official since 1985. He is the longest-serving admissions dean in UVa history.

Blackburn joined UVa’s office of admission in 1979 as an associate dean and took over the top job six years later after the death of then-Dean Jean Rayburn.
During his 23-year tenure as dean, Blackburn has been responsible for building each year’s incoming class of UVa students.

Blackburn has advocated for more diversity at UVa and other selective colleges and universities. Last fall, he toured the nation with admissions officials from Harvard and Princeton to recruit more low-income students.

Over the years, Blackburn has become one of the nation’s leading experts on higher education admission. He also has served as a member of the Board of Trustees of the College Board, his profession’s national organization.

“Jack Blackburn is one of the most highly regarded deans of admission in the country,” UVa President John T. Casteen III said in a statement. “He is a respected colleague and friend who has spent his entire career working to build the excellence of our student body and to ensure opportunities to students everywhere.”
Gordon M. Stewart, associate dean in the College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, will chair the search committee for Blackburn’s successor.