Ken Blackwell is the Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment at the Family Research Council, and the Ronald Reagan Distinguished Fellow for Public Policy at the Buckeye Institute in Columbus, Ohio. He is a visiting fellow at the Texas Public Policy Foundation and the American Civil Rights Union. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Club for Growth, National Taxpayers Union and Pastors Retreat Network. Mr. Blackwell is also the Chairman for the Coalition for a Conservative Majority, and a member of the National Rifle Association's Public Affairs Committee. He is a columnist for the New York Sun, a contributing editor and columnist for the conservative news and opinion site Townhall.com, and a public affairs commentator for the Salem Radio Network. He has a distinguished record of achievement as a finance executive, entrepreneur, diplomat, educator and independent corporate director. He is one of the nation's leading conservative voices and a strong advocate free market enterprise. In 2006, he became the first African-American in Ohio history to be a major party nominee for governor. In 2004, the American Conservative Union and the Ashbrook Center for Public Affairs honored Mr. Blackwell with the John M. Ashbrook Award for his steadfast conservative leadership. Past recipients of the award include President Ronald Reagan, Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick and Charlton Heston. Mr. Blackwell's public service includes terms as mayor of Cincinnati, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. In 1994, he became the first African-American elected to a statewide executive office in Ohio when he was elected treasurer of state. He subsequently was elected to two terms as secretary of state. Mr. Blackwell is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration (2003- present), a director of the Academy for Government Accountability (2007-present), and a former member of the federal senior executive service. He was co-chairman of the board of directors of the Campaign Finance Institute (2003-06) in Washington, D.C. and a member of the Harvard Policy Group on Network-Enabled Services and Government (2003-06). Mr. Blackwell has been a member of the national advisory boards of the Princeton Review (2000-06) and Youth for Christ (2003-05). He is a former chairman of the U.S. Census Monitoring Board (1998-2001) and member of the Advisory Panel of the Federal Elections Commission (1999-2003). In addition, Mr. Blackwell served on the board of directors of the ICMA Retirement Corporation (1999- 2004), Fifth Third Bank, Fifth Third Bancorp (1993-94), the Cincinnati Public Employees Retirement System (1985-88) and Grant/Riverside Methodist Hospitals (1996-99). In 2002, he received meritorious recognition from the Center for Digital Government, and was recognized by Government Technology magazine as one of the top 25 public sector leaders in information technology. He is a past president of the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council. More than 25 years ago, he began his work in using technology to help government fulfill its mission and commitment to citizens as a member of the board of directors of Public Technology, Inc., located in Washington, D.C. A certified government finance manager, Mr. Blackwell was a 1999 recipient of the Government Finance Officers Association's Excellence in Government Award. In 2006, he received the prestigious National Leadership Award from the National Forum for Black Public Administrators. He was formerly a Fellow at the Heritage Foundation (1990) in Washington, D.C. He has served on the U.S. Department of Labor's Advisory Council on Employee Welfare and Pension Benefit Plans. Mr. Blackwell was a delegate to the White House Summit on Retirement Savings in 1998 and 2002. During the 1990s, he served on the congressionally appointed National Commission on Economic Growth and Tax Reform, and in 1998, he co-edited a book with Jack Kemp, entitled, IRS v. The People: Time for Real Tax Reform. In 2006, he co-authored with Jerome R. Corsi Rebuilding America: A Prescription for Creating Strong Families, Building the Wealth of Working People, and Ending Welfare. An advocate for tax simplification and government reform, Mr. Blackwell has testified before Congressional committees on taxation, government operations, election systems, education, and banking matters. Mr. Blackwell also has served on the boards of directors of the International Republican Institute, the American Council of Young Political Leaders, and the Congressional Human Rights Foundation. He was a scholar-in-residence at the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati College of Law (19991-93). As the U.S. Representative to the U.N. Human Rights Commission, he led the U.S. delegation to all four of the preparatory meetings for the 1993 World Conference on Human Rights. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and presently serves on the advisory board of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. His international activities have taken him to 53 countries and strengthened his understanding of emerging international markets and the growth of democracy worldwide. Mr. Blackwell has held the nation's highest security clearance, and twice received the U.S. Department of State's Superior Honor Award from the administrations of Presidents George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton for his work in the field of human rights. He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Xavier University (OH), where he later served as a vice president and member of its faculty. In 1992, he received Xavier's Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has been a Fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics, the Aspen Institute, the Salzburg Seminar in Austria and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (British-American Project). His continuing education has included executive programs at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard. Among his awards are honorary doctoral degrees from several institutions of higher education in Ohio, including Ashland University (2002), Cincinnati State Technical and Community College (1999), Lourdes College (2003), Wilberforce University (1980), Wilmington College (1996), Urbana University (1997), Indiana Wesleyan University (2005) and Franklin Pierce College (1992) in New Hampshire. He is a recipient of the Veritas Award (1998) from Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, Connecticut and the President's Award for Public Service and Leadership (1995) from Central State University in Ohio. In 1998, Mr. Blackwell delivered the Becket Lecture on Religious Liberty at Oxford University. Since the spring of 2004, he has been a member of the Arlington Group, an influential national coalition of pro-life, pro-family and religious leaders and organizations. He has lectured at Harvard, the University of New Castle in England, and the Moscow State Institute for International Relations in Russia, and the International Academy of Public Administration in Paris. Many of his speeches and lectures have been published in "Vital Speeches of the Day." His commentaries have been carried in major newspapers across the United States, including The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, as well as all major newspapers in Ohio. He is a regular guest commentator for Salem Communications. Salem Communications operates 59 radio stations in 22 of the nation's top 25 markets and owns 95 stations nationally. He also has been a frequent guest on network and cable news and public affairs programs, including Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, CNN's Crossfire and Inside Politics, MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, and PBS's The Jim Lehrer Newshour and Tavis Smiley Late Night. Mr. Blackwell is a lifelong resident of Cincinnati. He was a founding partner of the highly successful Blue Chip Broadcasting Company, a network of 20 urban format radio stations. At the time of its sale in 2001, Blue Chip Broadcasting had become the second largest African-American owned radio company in the nation. He and his wife of 39 years, Rosa, who currently serves as superintendent of Cincinnati Public Schools, have three adult children. In 1994, the Blackwells were honored as one of the National Council of Negro Women's Families of the Year, and, in 1996, Mr. and Mrs. Blackwell together received the Martin Luther King, Jr. Dreamkeeper Award from the Cincinnati Historical Society. In 2006, the Blackwells became minority shareholders in the Cincinnati Reds, the city's major league baseball team. Mr. Blackwell is a member of the Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, the Ohio Gun Collectors Association, the Literary Club of Cincinnati and is a life member of the NAACP. http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell http://media.townhall.com/TownHall/icons/TH-feed-icon-128x128.gif http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell TownHall.com, Where your opinion counts. 128 Copyright (c) 2008 Townhall.com, A Salem Communications Web. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED jim.dearras@townhall.com (Jim De Arras) Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:34:48 GMT Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:34:48 GMT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss RSS.NET: http://www.rssdotnet.com/ Senator John McCain's pick of Governor Sarah Palin to be the GOP vice presidential nominee is historic. Coupled with the GOP platform he enthusiastically embraced, Mr. McCain has completely changed the game, and put... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/08/31/palin_and_platform_change_the_game 2a790db5-6e97-401f-bd6e-e0bfa10ab9a1 Sun, 31 Aug 2008 21:34:48 GMT Barack Obama made an interesting choice by tapping Joseph Biden as his running mate. Mr. Biden certainly helps to address one of Mr. Obama's greatest weaknesses. But Senator Obama has three challenges he must face to... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/08/25/obamas_interesting_choice 4f243613-335b-4d7d-8c9a-3c95b2d51de2 Mon, 25 Aug 2008 04:00:55 GMT Last week saw three human rights episodes play out in Russia, China and the United States. These events show us how America stacks up against the rest of the world. This past week the world saw the resurgent danger... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/08/14/russia,_china_and_gitmo_a_contrast_in_human_rights 4bd4b9ae-14cd-48c2-b5b4-a0dade464502 Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:15 GMT Nineteen percent of eighth graders, 36% of 10th graders, and 47% of 12th graders say they have used illegal drugs, according to a study by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the University of Michigan. These... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/08/07/faith_can_curb_teen_drug_abuse 39aebf93-cd7a-4ec9-8563-8629d7a59de0 Thu, 07 Aug 2008 04:01:00 GMT Nancy Pelosi wants to the save the planet. That was the House speaker's answer to why she is not allowing a vote on expanding domestic oil drilling. Unfortunately, Americans' need for an ambitious long-term plan for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/07/31/freedom_now d18ca086-2356-4a28-a76f-1ce287fd48f8 Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT Senators McCain and Obama both say public schools need work, but neither of their proposed solutions gets to the root problem of our education crisis. Mr. McCain has supported President Bushs No Child Left... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/07/24/in_quality_education_family_matters 0e8de543-2852-483f-b6f0-3e0b9bce2efe Thu, 24 Jul 2008 04:00:28 GMT House Speaker Pelosi is hinting at reinstating the Fairness Doctrine, and many of her liberal colleagues in Congress are doing the same in both chambers. Alleging the press isnt balanced, they say government should be... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/07/17/the_gathering_threat_to_freedom 61a1344e-2447-4ec4-8192-a5fbbd90b2cc Thu, 17 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT On July 16 Senator McCain will address the NAACP at its national convention in Cincinnati, Ohio. It will give him a historic opportunity to lay out his vision for individual empowerment, and offer concrete solutions for... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/07/10/mccain_and_post-racial_politics b6f66d9e-0544-4993-80fa-86516f15fe1e Thu, 10 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT We hold these truths to be self-evident: That all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/07/03/life,_liberty,_and_the_pursuit_of_happiness d9672931-7ac9-42f3-9e48-607387c62397 Thu, 03 Jul 2008 04:01:00 GMT America is in a worsening energy crisis, and the increasing consumer costs associated with it are wreaking economic havoc on American families. Tackling this crisis has fallen prey to presidential politics and looms... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/06/26/the_energy_quagmire db8ef18c-5687-4619-8a8b-b0962dad7d97 Thu, 26 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT Note: This piece was co-written by Kenneth A. Klukowski The Supreme Court's 5-4 opinion in Boumediene v. Bush will go down as one of the most egregiously-wrong decisions in history. Breaking 200 years of settled... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/06/17/america_will_regret_high_courts_decision 5a33d9a9-c3fe-4f2d-8472-e7748e40c588 Tue, 17 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT Few realize that two aspects of California's same-sex marriages are unlike Massachusetts', and could redefine marriage in every state. And most people might not realize it before November's election. On May 14, by a... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/06/13/a_supreme_constitutional_showdown eca842d9-490e-4e80-8573-9939f62897cc Fri, 13 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT At this week's G8 Summit, the cost of gasoline is one of the main topics of discussion. With the price of crude oil hovering around $136 a barrel, the industrialized world is looking for answers. But none seem to exist... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/06/12/deregulation_works 3622f9df-047f-4436-a544-41a2b025a78c Thu, 12 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT "Crawling at your feet, said the Gnat (Alice drew her feet back in some alarm), you may observe a Bread-and-butter-fly. Its wings are thin slices of bread-and-butter, its body is a crust, and its head is a lump of... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/06/05/the_dilemma 786d6029-dd20-4307-a0f6-b5e560f19f2a Thu, 05 Jun 2008 04:01:00 GMT On Saturday the Democratic Party's Rules and Bylaws Committee will likely remove all barriers to Senator Barack Obama's nomination. In doing so, Democrats will select a nominee who has been routed repeatedly in crucial... http://www.townhall.com/columnists/KenBlackwell/2008/05/29/george_barack_dukakis b439e9be-94ae-40e9-83e2-4c408e9a9f12 Thu, 29 May 2008 04:01:00 GMT