About Blake Edwards

Blake Edwards is the Senior Associate Director for Marketing and Communications, Student Recruitment and Global Outreach. Blake develops and implements cohesive marketing and communications plans designed to drive student enrollment. He collaborates with his colleagues in Enrollment Management, Marketing, and Student Recruitment to deliver consistent voice, tone, and messaging across multiple platforms.

Prior to joining Harris, Blake served as Project Manager and Marketing and Advertising Coordinator for Governors State University. Before GSU, Blake taught English and literature at community colleges throughout the Chicagoland area for eight years. Previous to teaching, Blake worked at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he served as Senior Editor, Writer, and Project Manager for the Creative Services team from 1999–2008.

Blake earned an MFA in Creative Writing (fiction concentration) from Brown University. He earned a dual bachelor’s degree (English and Creative Writing) from University of California, Riverside.

"I enjoy working at Harris because I am a strong believer in evidence-based solutions, and I thrive in a collaborative environment where those solutions are often realized."

Get to Know Blake

What is your favorite book?

A tough call, but I thoroughly enjoyed Winter Journeys by Georges Perec and the OULIPO. OULIPO emphasizes writing constraints (often informed by mathematics) to structure their writings, and Winter Journeys almost evolves like an exquisite corpse, with each writer pushing the envelope a bit more askew with each narrative.

What are your hobbies?

Cooking, audio and text-based art, illuminated manuscript pages, traveling, and reading. I am also a year-round bicyclist (and motorcyclist, providing the roads are not icy).

If you didn’t have to sleep, what would you do with the extra time?

Travel: there’s a lot of world out there to explore.

Ask Blake About:

• The Toys for Tots Motorcycle Parade
• Literature
• Outsider art
• Odd roadside attractions