University of Tennessee at Chattanooga Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Mark Wharton announced the promotion of Dr. Emily Blackman to Assistant Vice Chancellor for Athletic Academic Enhancement today.

Blackman is in her 11^th season with the Mocs and previously served as the Senior Associate Athletics Director for Student-Athlete Academic Enhancement.  In her role, she oversees academic support for Mocs student-athletes and is the sport administrator for the women's tennis program.

"The impact of Dr. Blackman's leadership on the academic success of our student-athletes during her tenure has been measurably tremendous," stated Wharton.  "We continue to set records in grade-point-average, graduation rates and many other areas of classroom success."

"As the main liaison between athletics and campus academics, this new title better aligns her with main campus constituents.  She has done a great job cultivating relationships throughout the UTC community and we look forward to building on that foundation."

Chattanooga just announced a program record 3.197 grade-point-average for the 2019 spring semester.  It was the 10^th time in Blackman's tenure the Mocs set a new mark for semester GPA.  UTC has also raised its student-athlete graduation rate 39 points over the last 10 years, reaching an all-time high of 87% in the 2019 cohort. 

"Dr. Blackman's commitment to building strong relationships with academic and student support programs has been exceptional," stated UTC Provost and Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs Dr. Jerold Hale.  "Her efforts have resulted in outstanding, and continuously improving, academic achievements and graduation rates for our student athletes.  Her work and the success of our student-athletes is a UTC point of pride."

Dr. Blackman first came to Chattanooga in June 2009, serving as an advisor in the Center for Advisement and Student Success. She was part of a new and innovative team of advisors that helped to integrate the largest freshman class to-date in school history into university life.

Prior to that, Dr. Blackman worked in a number of capacities at the University of New Mexico, including serving in the Registrar's Office, Athletics Compliance and Athletics Marketing.  She was also employed with the Detroit Lions for five seasons, serving in both the player personnel and salary cap departments.

Originally from Somers, Conn, Dr. Blackman earned her Bachelor's Degree in Health Promotion from Auburn University in 1997. She completed her master's degree in Sport Administration from Wayne State University in 2000 and her M.B.A. from UNM 2005. She completed her Ph.D. in Sport Administration from New Mexico in 2008.