Dr. Cindy Blackwell '98, '03

Dr. Cindy Blackwell joined the Faculty Affairs team in August 2024 as the Director of Academic Faculty Development. Dr. Blackwell has been both a tenured associate professor at Oklahoma State University as well as teaching track faculty at The University of Southern Mississippi. While at Oklahoma State University, Dr. Blackwell was a co-PI for several grant projects including two through the US State Department working with international media development. In addition, Dr. Blackwell was on a USDA Higher Education Challenge Grant team for the Interdisciplinary Innovation Education to Solve Real Business and Design Problems project, which earned the team the 2010 Merrick Foundation teaching award at Oklahoma State University. 

During her time at Southern Miss, Dr. Blackwell served as the assistant director for the School of Mass Communication and Journalism and later as the associate director for the Center for Faculty Development where she was also an associate teaching professor and the academic integrity officer for Southern Miss. Blackwell’s solid focus on students and student learning led her to be honored with USM’s University Excellence in Teaching Award in 2019. 

Dr. Blackwell earned her master's and PhD from Texas A&M University.