Wise, Virginia - Each week during the 2012 season, UVa-Wise will honor someone associated with the campus community as an honorary captain.  This week, the honorary captain is former UVa-Wise Provost Dr. Gilmer Blackburn.

Dr. Blackburn served as Provost from 2004-2010 where he also taught classes in the political science department.  Prior to coming to UVa-Wise, Dr. Blackburn served as a Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs at Gardner-Webb University while also serving as Dean of Graduate Studies and as a history professor at his alma mater.

In college, Dr. Blackburn played football at Gardner-Webb where he earned his bachelor's degree.  Upon completion of his degree, he completed a B.A. and M.A. in history at Wake Forest University before earning a Ph.D. in educational philosophy from the University of North Carolina.

A North Carolina native, Dr. Blackburn is a well-respected scholar who has earned numerous awards for teaching excellence in his career.  In addition, his Education in the Third Reich: A Study of Race and History in Nazi Textbooks was published in 1985.  In 1995, he was named a Fullbright Scholar where he studied in Germany.

The former Provost and his wife Martha have two grown children, David and Julie.  The couple lives in Wise, Virginia.