Dr. Ira K. Blake is the 5th president of the University of Houston-Clear Lake (UHCL), one of the region’s top public universities. A native of Arkansas, President Blake grew up in Fontana, California, and is the first woman and first African American to serve in the role. Since she arrived at UHCL, President Blake has emphasized diversity and inclusion, engagement with students, cultivating leaders, and collaboration with corporate and community partners that align the university’s impact with industry needs.
Under President Blake’s leadership, UHCL has experienced success through campus facilities expansion and record student enrollment. She leads the university’s strategic plan implementation and serves on the steering committees for the Pearland Economic Development Strategic Plan and Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership (BAHEP). Sustainability is a priority for Blake, who established the Institute for Human and Planetary Sustainability (IHAPS) in fall 2020 to help the institution embed the importance of sustainability and its impact on our social, economic, educational, and environmental well-being in the world. In addition, she chairs the committee on sustainable development through the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
President Blake serves on the boards of BAHEP and HCA Clear Lake/Midland regional healthcare centers. She is also active in the Houston Guided Pathways to Success (Houston GPS) Leadership Oversight Committee, a regional initiative charged with creating strategies to support student completion and seamlessly align two-year to four-year college transfer while improving educational quality. Since Blake’s arrival to UH-Clear Lake, several new partnerships have been established with the NASA Johnson Space Center, aerospace subcontractors, and Houston Spaceport to provide experiential learning opportunities for internships, upskilling and reskilling for the regional workforce.
Before joining UHCL, President Blake served as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs at Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania. Prior to serving at Bloomsburg, she was associate vice chancellor for academic and student affairs for Pennsylvania’s State System of Higher Education and assistant to the president for public engagement at Kutztown University.
She holds a master’s degree in educational psychology from San Francisco State University and a second master’s degree and a doctorate in developmental psychology from Columbia University. She has spoken and published on the topics of language, literacy, ethnicity, culture, socialization, and childhood development.
Ira K. Blake. Ph.D.
President
University of Houston-Clear Lake
2700 Bay Area Blvd.
Houston, Texas 77058
President@uhcl.edu
(281) 283-2004
