Ivy Tech: Updates from the campus to the community with new Chancellor Dr. David Balkin
Nov 04, 2019 12:00 PM
Chancellor Dr. David Balkin
Ivy Tech: Updates from the campus to the community with new Chancellor Dr. David Balkin

Article of introduction from the South Bend Tribune by Lincoln Wright, August 13, 2019

SOUTH BEND — After an extensive national search, Ivy Tech Community College found a new local chancellor in its backyard.

David Balkin, who most recently served as a regional development director at the University of Notre Dame, will take over as chancellor for the South Bend-Elkhart campuses on Sept. 3. He replaces Thomas Coley, who retired in May.

Balkin has more than 30 years of experience in engineering, management and executive leadership. He has three degrees from Notre Dame and spent much of his career as an executive at IBM.

In 2014, he was named managing director of Notre Dame’s Center for Nano Science and Technology, a position he held for more than three years. He then became the university’s associate director of regional development for San Francisco and Silicon Valley.

Balkin said he’s had an interest in education throughout his career. While at IBM, he developed a course and taught at the University of Vermont.

“I’ve always had a dream of returning to academia,” he said Tuesday after a news conference to introduce him as the new chancellor.

Balkin said he was interested in having a greater impact on the community and recognized the importance of Ivy Tech locally. He plans to leverage his experience to help Ivy Tech meet a statewide goal of having 60 percent of Indiana’s workforce receive degrees and specialty training, with 50,000 workers a year coming from Ivy Tech by 2025.

“The opportunity to build a workforce that is commensurate with the task at hand of matching the outstanding capabilities and business processes that are available is going to be exciting,” he said.

Locally, Balkin hopes to forge deeper relationship with area companies.

“We are focused on readying our students for the current and future workplace,” he said.

In a statement, Ivy Tech President Sue Ellspermann said Balkin would help with the mission of developing apprenticeships and ensuring graduates have the right workforce skills and credentials.

“I am confident Dr. Balkin with effectively lead, align and accelerate these efforts on our campus and partner with industry, education and communities,” she said.

lwright@SBTinfo.com
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@LWrightSBT