Posted by William Nunnelley on 2008-03-05

Robert O. Blakely, director of development at The Citadel in Charleston, S.C., has been named major gift officer for Samford University's Brock School of Business. He will begin his Samford duties March 31.

Blakely has served as The Citadel's major gifts officer since 2006, securing gifts in excess of $700,000 during his initial year ending in 2007. He was the primary gift officer and liaison for The Citadel School of Business Administration and its advisory board.

He helped The Citadel to successfully complete a $100 million capital campaign.

A professional fundraiser for 14 years, Blakely served previously at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tenn., DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind., and with The Share Group, a fundraising company in Amherst, Mass.

Blakely is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts with summer study in 2002 at Trinity College, Oxford University, in England.

Brock School of Business benefactor Harry B. Brock, Jr., recently committed to helping the business school raise $100 million in endowment. Blakely will assist in this effort as well as other fundraising endeavors for the business school and at Samford.

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 6,101 students from 45 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.