Passing of Jacob Joseph Blum, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Medicine, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cell Biology
It is with profound sadness that I inform you of the passing of Jacob Joseph Blum, PhD, James B. Duke Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Medicine, and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Cell Biology.
Dr. Blum earned a PhD at the University of Chicago in 1952. He joined Duke in 1962 as associate professor of physiology and chief of the Laboratory of Sensory Physiology. In 1966 he became a professor of physiology in the Department of Cell Biology, and in 1980 he became the James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Medicine. He assumed his emeritus role in 1997.
Dr. Blum's research focused on two areas: understanding the pathways of intermediary metabolism in the parasitic protozoan Leishmania donovani, and collaborations with a professor in the Department of Mathematics to analyze the functions of several nuclei of the lower brain stem in interpreting information arriving to the brain via the auditory nerve.
A graveside service was held Wednesday, August 17, 2022 at Durham Hebrew Cemetery.
Please join me in extending our sincerest condolences to Dr. Blum’s family, friends, and colleagues.
Remembering Jacob Joseph Blum
In 1967, Ida Stephens Owens became the first African American woman to receive a doctorate from Duke University. Owens started her graduate study at Duke in fall 1962 after spending the previous summer doing research in Tosteson’s lab. Under the mentorship of Dr. Jacob J. Blum, James B. Duke Professor Emeritus of Cell Biology, Owens received her PhD in physiology in 1967, becoming the first African American woman to receive a doctorate from Duke. As part of Duke’s Sesquicentennial Celebration, Owens, along with eleven other women pioneers in their fields, was recognized in Portraits of Women Firsts, a collection curated by the Duke Women’s Studies Program. Duke Graduate School honors Owens with documentary about her experience. Owens went on to great success establishing her own lab and earned the NIH Director's Award.
Others who've spent time with Joe Blum and had lunch with him, spoke of his sense of humor. He was a good companion and always looked out for others. One colleague noted that he was instrumental in removing "black only" and "white only" signs from the bathrooms and drinking fountains in the Bell Building in the 60s. This action led Duke to remove these signs throughout the University.
Jacob Joseph Blum's PhD mentor was Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel prize recipient.