ETBU Trustees Elect Dr. J. Blair Blackburn as President

MARSHALL — The East Texas Baptist University Board of Trustees has elected Dr. J. Blair Blackburn of Dallas as the university’s next president. The announcement came from ETBU Board of Trustees chair Hal Cornish after a special called trustee meeting Tuesday afternoon. Dr. Blackburn will succeed Dr. Samuel W. “Dub” Oliver, who left to become the president of Union University in Jackson, Tennessee, on June 1, 2014.

Dr. Blackburn currently serves as the executive vice president at Dallas Baptist University, a position he’s held since 2002, and has 20 years of service with the institution. Prior to his two decades of leadership at DBU, he served in three other institutions of higher learning in East Texas, including the University of Texas at Tyler, Lon Morris College, and Paris Junior College. Dr. Blackburn will join ETBU as its 13th president effective June 2015.

“Dr. Blackburn is an exceptionally well qualified and highly experienced individual ideally suited to be ETBU’s next president,” said Cornish. “The Board of Trustees and the entire ETBU community is very excited about the University’s bright future under the presidential leadership of Dr. Blackburn.”

“I am excited and humbled that the Lord has called me to serve as president of East Texas Baptist University,” said Blackburn. “Having been raised in Northwest Louisiana and living in East Texas for many years, I have known and respected this institution for its unwavering commitment to stand as a beacon for Christ-centered education.”