The University Record, March 25, 1998
Robert Taylor Blackburn
Robert Taylor Blackburn, 74, died March 1 at Arbor Hospice Residence.
Blackburn’s principal faculty positions before joining the U-M were on the natural science faculty in Hutchins’ College at the University of Chicago, as an assistant and associate professor of physical science at San Francisco State University, and as a member of the natural and social science faculty and dean of the faculty at Shimer College.
He was appointed professor of higher education at the School of Education’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education in 1966.
Blackburn’s research focused on faculty careers, a field of study that he largely defined and shaped over a period of 30 years.
He was a member of numerous editorial boards and advisory committees and a recipient of the Association for the Study of Higher Education’s Distinguished Research Award. He also was the author or co-author of four books and more than 100 journal articles and monographs. His most recent book, Faculty at Work (1995, Johns Hopkins University Press), was authored with his colleague, Janet Lawrence.
Blackburn briefly attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison before serving in World War II for three years. Following the war, he earned S.B. and S.M. degrees in meteorology from the University of Chicago. Following some graduate work at Harvard University, he returned to Chicago for his Ph.D.
Blackburn is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary Jane; three sons, Edward Bruce, the Bronx, Timothy Eric, Cambridge, Mass., and Douglas Scott (Maggie) with grandson, Max, Harpersfield, N.Y.; and brother, William Bishop, Sturgeon Bay, Wis.
Submitted by the family and the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education
Jill E. Martin
Jill E. Martin, administrative associate, surgery administration, died March 6 after a long battle with breast cancer. She was 44.
Martin joined the U-M in 1979, working in the business office at University Health Service and moved to the Department of Surgery in 1985.
A resident of Pinckney, she was born Sept. 23, 1953.
Martin is survived by her parents, Ruth and James Farquhar of Brighton; her husband, Stuart; their children, Scott and Katherine; sisters Judy and Jane; and brothers Bill and Ted.
Submitted by a colleague
