Robert Blakely, director of development for Samford University's Brock School of Business, has been named the new vice president for institutional advancement at Birmingham-Southern College. Blakely, a Birmingham resident who joined the Samford fundraising team in 2008, directs all facets of the Brock School of Business component of the university's five-year comprehensive campaign and annual fund. He will begin the position at Birmingham-Southern on July 10, taking over for Interim Vice President for Institutional Advancement Pat Anderson-Flowers. Blakely previously served as director of development for The Citadel, a highly ranked comprehensive military and civilian institution in Charleston, S.C.

Ed Hand, a senior level development professional with more than 23 years in higher education fundraising, is the new vice president for institutional advancement at Birmingham-Southern College. Hand will begin his duties at BSC in early October. He replaces Adelia Patrick Thompson, who is the recently appointed vice president for advancement at Christopher Newport University in Newport News, Va. Hand currently is executive director of development and external relations for the Poole College of Management at North Carolina State University. Hand also has served as executive director of corporate foundation and annual giving for North Carolina State University, director of development for that school's College of Engineering, senior associate director and director of reunion giving for the Duke University Annual Fund, reunion officer and volunteer coordinator for the University of North Carolina Annual Fund, and director of admissions for Warren Wilson College in Asheville, N.C.