| Brock Blomberg | |||||||||||||||
| Order: | 8th | ||||||||||||||
| President of California Institute of Integral Studies | |||||||||||||||
| Term Start: | September 1, 2021 | ||||||||||||||
| Predecessor: | Judie Wexler;[1] [2] | ||||||||||||||
| Title1: | 17th President of Ursinus College | ||||||||||||||
| Term Start1: | June 1, 2015 | ||||||||||||||
| Term End1: | August 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||
| Predecessor1: | Bobby Fong | ||||||||||||||
| Successor1: | Robyn E. Hannigan | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Date: | 21 March 1967 | ||||||||||||||
| Birth Place: | El Paso, Texas, U.S. | ||||||||||||||
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| Education: | University of Tampa (BS) Johns Hopkins University (MA, PhD) | ||||||||||||||
Stephen Brock Blomberg (born March 21, 1967) is the 8th president of California Institute of Integral Studies.[3] An internationally known scholar and former President of Ursinus College, Blomberg is best known in academia for his work on the economics of terrorism.
Blomberg was born in El Paso, Texas, the son of an Army officer.[4] He graduated from the University of Tampa magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Science, then received his Master of Arts and Doctor of Philosophy degrees in economics from Johns Hopkins University.[5] [6] From 1995 to 2003, Blomberg served on the economics faculty of Wellesley College. In fall 2003, he joined the economics department at Claremont McKenna College, and in June 2010, he became the Dean of the Robert Day School of Economics and Finance at Claremont McKenna.
Blomberg served as president of Ursinus College from 2015 to 2021. Under his stewardship, the college raised more than $107 million in gifts from a single comprehensive campaign and completed a $29 million Innovation and Discovery Center with two award-winning venues. He also lead the institution through its first campus master plan in nearly a generation and launched the college’s Institute for Inclusion and Equity to coordinate programming and dialogue around diversity and social justice. A number of controversies arose during Blomberg's tenure as president of Ursinus. In April, 2016, Terry Winegar, who had served as interim president prior to Blomberg's appointment, was fired from his position as dean of the college. Winegar then sued Blomberg and Ursinus, claiming age discrimination.[7] Winegar alleged a pattern of firing employees nearing retirement age. In September, 2016, offensive tweets by board chairman Michael Marcon were circulated on campus, but Blomberg claimed the board supported Marcon's leadership.[8] Marcon subsequently resigned from his position.[9] In 2017, Blomberg approached journalist Juan Williams about being Ursinus's commencement speaker. When faculty members learned about this, many opposed the selection, citing accusations of plagiarism and sexual harassment against Williams. Blomberg denied that a formal invitation was made, and Williams was removed from consideration.[10]
On September 1, 2021, Blomberg was named the president of California Institute for Integral Studies (CIIS).[11] He engaged the university community in articulating a vision for CIIS’ future through a strategic planning effort,[12] which includes new branding and state-of-the-art website, overhauling institutional systems and structures, elevating the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion to its own division, and developing a University endowment.
President Blomberg has published over 30 articles and book chapters in top economics journals such as the American Economic Review, Journal of Econometrics, Journal of Law and Economics, Journal of Monetary Economics, Journal of International Economics, Journal of Public Economics, and the Review of Economics and Statistics. His research shows that terrorism has a statistically significant impact on the economy and that trade is particularly sensitive to attacks.