He received the Bachelor's degree in engineering from Calvin College in 1987, a Master's degree in Electrical Engineering in 1989 from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor in 1995. He has worked on the design and test of complex digital systems with General Motors Research Laboratories, AT&T Bell Laboratories, Intel, and Motorola. Dr. Blanton is the recipient of National Science Foundation Career Award and is a member of IEEE and ACM.