Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs.
Dr. Julio R. Blanco brings to the position nearly 40 years of industrial and academic experience. He worked for 10 years in the Aerospace industry and 30 years in the California State University system.
Most recently, Dr. Blanco has been the Dean of the School of Natural Sciences, Mathematics, and Engineering (NSME) at California State University, Bakersfield (CSUB) as well as Associate Provost for Grants, Resource Management, and Planning. Under his leadership, the number of students majoring in STEM more than doubled and fifteen new programs were established.
On June 4, 2011, the Greater Bakersfield Chamber of Commerce presented to Dr. Blanco the 2010 Beautiful Bakersfield Crystal Camellia Award in the category of Education for bringing Engineering to CSUB.
Dr. Blanco was also recognized in Washington DC on October 2, 2012 when Excelencia in Education selected NSME as the 2012 National Example of Excelencia at the baccalaureate level for increasing Latino participation in STEM from 15% to over 40%. The gender gap in STEM was also decreased with 46% female participation today.
Dr. Blanco is passionate about student success and at CSUB he Co-chaired the Graduation Initiative with Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management. While at CSUB, Dr. Blanco helped increase external support through grants and contracts from $10M to more than $60M today.
Dr. Blanco was born in Cuba and educated in Spain during his teen years. He received a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Physics from California State University, Northridge and a Ph.D. also in Physics from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Blanco has over 30 publications in scientific journals.