Michael Blazey, Ph.D. is a Professor and former Chair of the Department of Recreation and Leisure Studies at California State University Long Beach, joining the faculty in 1990. He serves as the Interim Director of Academic Facilities and previously was the Interim Chair, Department of Sociology and an Assistant Dean in the College of Liberal Arts. Blazey received a BA in Park and Recreation Management from the University of Oregon and a MS in Health, Physical Education and Recreation from South Dakota State University with a minor in Planning. Prior to and while working on his Masters, he was the Recreation Superintendent for the City of Brookings. Blazey completed his doctorate in Recreation and Parks with a minor in Sociology at The Pennsylvania State University in 1984, serving as a field researcher for an A.A.R.P. Andrus Foundation grant at that time.
Following completion of the doctorate and prior to his appointment at CSULB, Blazey became an Associate Professor at Washington State University. He has held faculty positions at South Dakota State University, Kansas State University, and Western Carolina University. Past recreation-related employers include the YMCA, the Lane County Juvenile Authority (Oregon), Girl Scouts of the U.S.A., and the City of Ketchikan, Alaska.
Blazey has presented at the Leisure Research Symposium and was an invited speaker at the Tourism Society of Korea's annual conference in 2001 and 2004. Blazey authored a chapter on organizational alignments for the second edition of Bannon's text Leisure Resources and is author of a number of articles, the most recent appearing in Schole. Blazey regularly consults with park and recreation agencies and conducts applied research projects that impact professional practice including needs assessments for the cities of Los Angeles, Lawndale, and Newport Beach, California.
Professional service activities include the Society of Park and Recreation Educators Board of Directors (President 2003-04) and membership on the Council on Accreditation of Park, Recreation, Tourism and Related Services (2004-2013), chairing the Council from 2009 through 2012. He has served as editor of the SPRE Newsletter and as an associate editor for the Journal of Park and Recreation Administration. Community service activities include the La Habra, CA Community Development Block Grant Advisory Committee, Planning Commission, General Plan Advisory Committee (Chair) and as an elected City Council Member (2010-2014).
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