This is the biography of Dr. Roger Blair, a graduate mining engineer from the University of Miskolc in Hungary and holder of postgraduate degrees in business from the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business at Nova Southeastern University in Davie, Florida.
Dr. Blair’s professional experience spans more than twenty five years in engineering and management. During the period 1997 to 2001, he held the position of Senior Director, Physical Development and Operations at the University of Technology (Utech) in Kingston, Jamaica. Dr. Blair’s responsibilities extended beyond facilities maintenance and construction and encompassed security, warehousing, university housing and operational processes, such as orientation and graduation. The transformation of Utech from college to university took place during this period, which added to the turbulence, of numerous renovation projects and the erection of five new buildings. His efforts were rewarded with the president’s recognition award and sabbatical to the United States for post graduate studies. His goal was to formalize his practical team building skills with the well-known models from the experts in organizational behavior.
Dr. Blair’s sabbatical to the United States lasted longer than expected but allowed him to garner experience as a construction project manager and facilities director at major universities in South Florida. In addition, he was certified as a general contractor within the state of Florida. This certification requires candidates to demonstrate competency in project management, construction techniques and building codes. The real reason for the extended stay however was his doctoral degree (DBA), which was completed in June of 2007. This triggered his desire to return to Jamaica to apply well-honed skills in team building to Jamaica’s transformation, along with first world construction processes.
Alcoa in Jamaica provided an opportunity for his return in 2008. Dr. Blair was recruited to manage their mining operations during a period of survival as the world recession threatened closure. During his tenure, the organization broke records in safety, production, cost and energy efficiency to stay open despite the closure of all other such operations in Jamaica. The management team’s effort was recognized by the Jamaican government and Alcoa’s top management with several visits to determine how this was achieved. Dr. Blair moved to Kingston in September of 2010 to manage an Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) project in renewable energy and taught entrepreneurship and strategy at the University of the West Indies.
Dr. Blair’s association with universities since 1997 awoke his desire to teach. This secondary activity at that time has now become his primary occupation. Dr. Blair’s area of specialization continues to be business with his main interest being in teams and their productivity. On completion of the IADB project in January 2012, he returned to the United States where he has been teaching fulltime, on ground and online. Dr. Blair’s efforts as business faculty have been rewarded by the Evelyn C. Keiser award for excellence in teaching by Keiser University of Florida, a division of Everglades University.
