Terry Blum

ADVANCE Professor, Scheller College of Business 

After serving as Dean of the College of Business (1999-2007), Blum became the founding director of Georgia Tech's Institute for Leadership and Social Impact (ILSI), an interdisciplinary unit that develops individual and organizational leadership capabilities for economic growth, social responsibility, and environmental sustainability. ILSI's curriculum and activities increase students' attentiveness to the critical cultural, economic, environmental and social issues they will face as they advance in their chosen professions, preparing them to be more effective leaders in an increasingly complex world. ILSI programs include the Impact Speaker Series, Ideas to Serve (I2S: Socially and Environmentally Responsible Values Enhancements), the Global Social Ventures Competition, the Business Track of the Leadership minor, and founded Georgia Tech’s Excel Program. 

She earned a Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1982 and has researched and published on topics related to the organization of and innovation in health services related to behavioral health care. She has served on many NIH study sections and has been a co-investigator for research grants related to the study of organizational and entrepreneurial factors that influence the transfer, adoption, and diffusion of innovation to for-profit and not-for-profit health treatment organizations. She is the co-founder of Georgia Tech’s Excel Program which provides a four-year certificate in academic enrichment, social fluency, and career exploration for students with intellectual disabilities. She serves as a member of the editorial board member of the Academy of Management Journal. She serves on the Scheller College of Business Diversity and Inclusion Council, and is the Ph.D. coordinator for Organizational Behavior at the Scheller College. She facilitates the Provost’s Emerging Leadership Program which has welcomed it’s eighth cohort of 16 faculty members. 

She has collaborated with colleagues on a NIH training grant to provide a year-long leadership development program for doctoral students in Biomedical Engineering, and the George Fellows Leadership Program for PhD students in Health Systems and Industrial Engineering. She has also been involved in two of Georgia Tech’s NSF funded Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (RED) Grants in Biomedical Engineering and Civil and Environmental Engineering, both of which have goals of inclusivity.  

She has served on the boards of Global Growers, Community Foundation for Morgan County, Camp Twin Lakes, Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy, and MedShare International. She currently serves on the board and as Secretary and Treasurer for Georgia Works! which transforms the lives of formerly homeless men and their families.