Dr. Blackman spent over a decade working as a recording engineer and music producer before returning to college in his early 30's. He completed his undergraduate degree in Philosophy and then earned his law degree as well as a masters in taxation at UCLA Law. He then completed his Ph.D. in Higher Education at Penn State while serving as a major gifts officer at Penn State Dickinson School of Law. Soon after he completed his Ph.D., Dr. Blackman joined the faculty at Ithaca College's School of Business teaching a variety of tax law courses in the graduate accounting program. While still serving as a tax law professor, Dr. Blackman developed and then served as the director for Ithaca's M.B.A. in Entertainment and Media Management program. In that role, Dr. Blackman taught an entertainment law course and worked closely with entertainment industry professionals in both New York and Los Angeles. Despite his success at Ithaca College, Dr. Blackman was eager to join St. Paul's as the Director of Leadership and Planned Giving in January of 2022.
Dr. Blackman lives in Manchester and regularly composes electronic music with his Buchla synthesizer.