Blair Allen

Blair came to Virginia Tech in 2000 with ambitions to earn a bachelor's degree in both Computer Engineering and Computer Science given his interest in both the hardware and software aspects of computers. As an undergrad he got a job in 2003 as a student-wage employee working for the IT Support department at the Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, which is also located on Virginia Tech's Blacksburg campus.

Over the years his role continually expanded to assume more responsibility and take on more advanced IT projects. In 2010 he became a full-time employee handling advanced IT projects for the Information Systems group at the veterinary college. Later that year, an opportunity arose for Blair to migrate to web application development, a personal passion he had been delving in since his high school days. In that role, Blair helped further develop the college's intranet web application, which provides identity-restricted access to sensitive data, forms, and other tools used by the veterinary college and hospital. In 2016 he transferred to the Pamplin College of Business to assume a similar Systems Developer role in the Office of Information Technology. Blair has been instrumental in taking over desktop & web application development duties that had previously been the responsibility of the IT Director, Jim Dickhans. He continues to work on developing applications that enhance the business systems for the College of Business while utilizing industry-standard technologies and developmental practices.

Outside of work Blair enjoys supporting Virginia Tech athletics, especially football and men's basketball. He is also passionate about the local Blacksburg area, having lived in the area for well over a decade, and enjoys activities such as darts, recreational softball, and exploring the growing population of local craft breweries. He has always been an avid traveler and has recently purchased an RV to explore the world of camping with his friends and their four-legged creatures.