Nathaniel (Nate) Blackman was a celebrated track and field athlete from 1948 to 1950, who came to DePaul shortly after Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in major league baseball. Nate quickly became one of the greatest athletes in DePaul history and went on to become an educator in Chicago. He was inducted into the DePaul Athletics Hall of Fame in 1978, just the third year after its founding.
Nate was a masterful advocate, teacher and motivator of young people. It comes as no surprise the measure of success he had and the thousands of students he impacted as an educator in the Chicago Public Schools system.