Michael B. Blankenship is currently a professor of criminal justice at Boise State University. He served as Dean of the College of Social Sciences and Public Affairs from June, 2002 until December, 2006. Prior to his arrival at BSU, he served as Chair of the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the Teaching and Learning Center at East Tennessee State University.

Dr. Blankenship is a native of Asheville, North Carolina. He earned a B.S. degree in criminal justice and a M.P.A degree from Western Carolina University, and a Ph.D. in criminal justice from Sam Houston State University. Prior to his graduate studies, Dr. Blankenship served as a police officer for seven years in his home town.

Dr. Blankenship has taught online courses on capital punishment, white-collar crime, policing, statistics, and introductory criminal justice and Web-enhanced courses on white-collar crime and management. He is coauthor of a statistics text and has edited a volume on corporate criminality. His empirical research has focused on capital punishment and white-collar crime. Dr. Blankenship served previously as editor of the American Journal of Criminal Justice, President of the Southern Criminal Justice Association, and as program chair for the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.