Jack Blanton

1935 - 2023

Jack Blanton

July 13, 1935 - October 28, 2023

Lexington, Kentucky - Jack Christopher Blanton, Ph.D. was born in Berea, Kentucky in 1935 the son of his late parents Christopher Lindsey Blanton and Lena Ellen Barr Blanton. He received a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science at Berea College in 1957. In 2013 he was named the Outstanding Alumnus of the Year by his alma mater. Upon graduating, he was selected for a full scholarship from the Southern Regional Training Program in Public Administration which allowed him to attend the University of Alabama, the University of Tennessee, and the University of Kentucky. He earned a Master of Arts from UT in 1964 and his Ph.D. from UK in 1982. In 1966 he was selected by the Ford Foundation to receive full funding as a graduate fellow at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California.

Dr. Blanton's professional career began in 1958 as a news reporter for the Knoxville Journal in Tennessee. Within two years he was called to work in government as an analyst in the State Budget Division of Kentucky. He worked closely with four governors helping prepare their biennial budgets, and in 1970 he was appointed State Budget Director. He was elected president of the Southern Association of State Budget Officers and was active with the National Association of State Budget Officers.

In 1972 he transitioned to higher education where he was named Associate Director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. After two years there he moved to the position of Vice Chancellor for Finance for the Tennessee Board of Regents. In 1975 he returned to his home state of Kentucky to serve as Vice President for Business Affairs and Treasurer at the University of Kentucky. There he began a long and distinguished career in academia in a variety of capacities including University Treasurer, a member of six university affiliated foundations including the University of Kentucky Athletic Association, and he contributed two decades on campus as an adjunct professor in the Gatton College of Business and Economics, and the Martin School of Public Policy and Administration. He also served briefly as interim Vice President for Minority Affairs. As vice president he was a member of the Lexington Mayor's Task Force on Growth Planning. He retired from UK in 2013.

Dr. Blanton was instrumental in the establishment of the WRFL radio station and a residence on campus for the University Press of Kentucky in addition to being a member of its governing board. He was instrumental in finding a residence on campus for the Kentucky Humanities Council, the KMen's House, and the Ronald McDonald House.

Dr. Blanton served in the U.S. Air Force and the Tennessee and Kentucky Air National Guard from 1958 to 1964. He served on the board of directors of the Lexington Community Kitchen and the Lexington Chamber of Commerce. He was active with the board of the Community Concert and Lecture Series, the Hope Center for Homeless Men, the Civil War Roundtable, and the Kiwanis Club.

Among his awards, he was named an honorary Kentucky Colonel by several governors, and was honored by the governor of Arkansas as Arkansas Traveler. For his work at UK he was given a Leadership Award by the national society of Omicron Delta Kappa. Dr. Blanton was also honored with the Albert Nelson Marquis Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Blanton was a member of the National Association of College and University Business officers, the National Association of State University and Land Grant Colleges, and the Forum for College Finance Alternatives. He was a featured lecturer at the College Business Management Institute at the University of California in Santa Barbara, California for 15 years. Dr. Blanton was also a member of the Finance Executive Institute, an honorary member of the Kentucky Society of Architects, and a member of 14 visiting committees charged with the reaccreditation of their universities.

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Sandra Lynne Craft Blanton, two daughters Leslie Rene Jacovitch and her husband Dan Jacovitch, Lorri Lynne Blanton and her husband Douglas Adams, all of Lexington, three grandsons, Christopher Jacovitch and his wife Dina Klimkina of Versailles, Max Tsarev and Colette Harley of Chapel Hill, NC, and Darius Tsarev of Lexington, and one great grandson, Jack Jacovitch of Versailles.

No Service. Donations kindly made to Hospice of the Bluegrass and the Arboretum State Botanical Garden of Kentucky.