Nicole Blackwood is responsible for guiding the overall brand strategy and establishing the creative vision and aesthetic priorities for marketing, campus facilities, special events, and student experience.  She received her Honors BA in Art History from the University of Toronto and her MA and PhD from the Courtauld Institute of Art, focusing on the theory and practice of European painting in the Renaissance. For more than a decade, she has taught at several universities in North America, has held fellowships at Harvard, Yale, and the University of Toronto, and has worked with collections, museums and historic properties in Canada, England, and the United States. Her academic writing has been published by the National Portrait Gallery of Art, the Oxford Art Journal, and the Nederlandish Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek. In addition to her scholarly work, Dr Blackwood has established two companies: Disegno, an art advising and appraisal firm, and Art & Amble, an educational-travel company based in Savannah.