Ursinus taps a political economist as next president

Ursinus College on Thursday named the dean of economics and finance at Claremont McKenna College in California its next president.

S. Brock Blomberg, 48, a political economist who specializes in the economics of terrorism, replaces Lucien "Terry" Winegar who had been serving as interim president since the sudden death of Bobby Fong last September.

He takes over July 1 as the 17th president of Ursinus, a 1,600-student liberal arts college in Collegeville.

"Our objective was to discover someone who could embrace the Ursinus DNA, our values and what we are about, who is passionate about the liberal arts, and comes with highly regarded leadership experience," Michael Marcon, a member of the board of trustees and chair of the search committee, said in a statement. "From the first meeting I could sense Brock's energy and enthusiasm."

Blomberg graduated magna cum laude from the University of Tampa and got his master's and doctorate in economics from Johns Hopkins University. In addition to dean at Claremont McKenna, he also is a senior research fellow for the Center for Risk and Economic Analysis of Terrorism Events) at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles, which has conducted research on 9/11.

He previously was a faculty member at Wellesley College and a visiting scholar at Harvard before beginning at Claremont McKenna in 2003.

Blomberg also has held positions at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the International Monetary Fund and the President's Council of Economic Advisers and served in the military for eight years. He also was the U.S. representative to the Economic Committee for Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation.

"His scholarship on the economics of terrorism involves the study of consequences, the life-cycle of terrorist organizations and their roots, and the relationship between violence and international investment," the college noted.

A native of El Paso, Tx., he started the first master's degree at Claremont McKenna, created an economic and entrepreneurial leadership program in Silicon Valley and built a global economic and leadership program in Asia, the college said.

He has four children, three of them college age.

Ursinus, a private college, did not release his salary.