Ken Blackwell

Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment

Ken Blackwell is the Senior Fellow for Family Empowerment at the Family Research Council. He serves on the board of directors of the Club for Growth and the National Taxpayers Union. He is also a member of the public affairs committee of the NRA. Mr. Blackwell is a columnist for the New York Sun, a contributing editor for the conservative news and opinion site townhall.com, and a frequent public affairs commentator for the Salem Radio Network.

In 2004, the American Conservative Union honored Mr. Blackwell with the John M. Ashbrook Award for his steadfast conservative leadership. Past recipients of the award include president Ronald Reagan and Ambassador Jeane Kirkpatrick.

His public service includes terms as Mayor of Cincinnati, Undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission

In 1994, he became the first African-American elected to a statewide executive office in Ohio when he was elected Treasurer of state. He subsequently was elected Secretary of State, and in 2006, was the Republican nominee for Governor.

He holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Education degrees from Xavier University (OH), where he later served as a vice president and member of its faculty. In 1992, he received the Xavier University Distinguished Alumnus Award. He has been a fellow at the Harvard University Institute of Politics and the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University (British-American Project).

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