Clifford Douglas (C. D.) Blake AO[1] is an Australian agriculturalist and educationalist who became first Vice-Chancellor of Charles Sturt University, from 1990 through to 2001 and then after his retirement from CSU in July 2001, he took up an interim Vice-Chancellor position at the University of Adelaide from August 2001.
[3] After completing a Rockefeller Travelling Fellowship in the United States, where he visited centres of biological teaching and research, Blake became a lecturer in plant pathology at The University of Sydney and the Wilson Fellow and Senior Tutor at St Andrew's College.
In 1971 he was appointed Principal of the new Riverina College of Advanced Education, which he developed into one of the leading providers of distance education courses in Australia, introducing courses in business, liberal studies, and science.
After amalgamating with the Wagga Agricultural College, he was able to introduce courses in agriculture and relocated the College to a new greenfield site north of the city.
In 1988 he was made a member of the Order of Australia and later appointed the first Vice-Chancellor of Charles Sturt University.