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CAMBRIDGE, MA -- Ira A. Jackson, director of the Center for Business and Government at Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government, has been named president of The Arthur M. Blank Foundation, announced Dean Joseph S. Nye, Jr. today.

"In the two years that Ira has been director, the Center for Business and Government (CBG) has flourished,” said Dean Nye. "It has emerged as an effective research center exploring the intersection of business and government and is integral to the Kennedy School’s ongoing success. We will miss Ira’s creativity and innovation but know that he has is leaving us with a strong, self-sufficient research center."

Jackson's tenure as director of CBG marked his second stint at the Kennedy School. From 1976 until 1983, Jackson was associate dean of the school. He left the School in 1983 to serve as Commissioner of Revenue in the Dukakis Administration and subsequently served as executive vice president of BankBoston for twelve years.

"I've been blessed to have had opportunities to exercise leadership in business, government and academia throughout my professional career, " said Jackson. "The source of so much of our strength as a society is driven by interaction between these various sectors - business, government, academia and civil society - I now feel equally blessed to have the chance to lead a young new family foundation.”

Before coming to the Kennedy School, Jackson served as top policy advisor to Boston Mayor Kevin White. A graduate of Harvard College, Jackson received his MPA from the Kennedy School in 1975 and completed the Advanced Management Program at the Harvard Business School in 1986 (AMP 100).

Since its founding in 1982, CBG has conducted research, organized symposia, and developed innovative curriculum on a variety of international, domestic, and institutional public policy issues at the intersection of business and government.

Arthur Blank, the co-founder of The Home Depot, the world’s largest home improvement retailer, founded the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, which is based in Atlanta, Georgia. The foundation supports programs for disadvantaged youth and a variety of civic and community causes. Mr. Blank is also chairman, president and CEO of the Atlanta Falcons football team

Jackson will leave CBG's directorship on August 9th. A search for his successor is underway.