Dr. Vincent Bloom dies

By Tom Uribes
University Communications

Dr. Vincent Bloom, a former chair of the communication department who championed academic integrity in athletics, died Wednesday afternoon.

Dr. Bloom died March 30 after a brief illness.

Fresno State President Dr. John D. Welty described Dr. Bloom as “an extraordinary individual who loved to teach and serve his University. He has touched the lives of hundreds of people in our University community in a very special way."

“Vince was an outstanding member of our faculty,” said Dr. Michael Botwin, a psychology professor and chair of the Academic Senate. “He was a dedicated scholar, mentor and an excellent teacher whether in or out of the classroom.  Vince has been one of my role models since I came to Fresno State as a junior faculty member.  He was good friend who gave me wise counsel, a man of his word, and had a wonderful sense of humor. He was highly respected by the entire university community and we will all miss him.”

Dr. Bloom, who joined the Fresno State faculty in 1970 as an assistant professor of speech arts, retired in 2004 as a full professor.  President Welty will honor Dr. Bloom with the title of Professor Emeritus of Communication at the Emeriti Luncheon to be held this month.

Dr. Bloom had served as chair of the Athletic Advisory Board and chair of the Standards and Grading Committee.

He was the immediate past chair of the National Communication Association Commission on Communication Apprehension and Avoidance and was the editor of its newsletter.

Dr. Bloom received his Bachelor of Arts degree in communication from Bethel College in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1965 and his Masters of Arts in Speech Communication from Colorado State College (now known as University of Northern Colorado) in 1967.

He earned his Ph.D. in Communication Therapy in 1970 from Ohio University.  His dissertation topic was "The Implication of Semantic Empiricism for Communication Inquiry."

He briefly taught at Boyd High School in Boyd, Minnesota in 1966.

At Freno State, he had the opportunity to teach along with his wife and colleague, Dr. Melanie Bloom, also a retired professor of communication. In addition to Melanie, he is also survived by his two children, Becky and David.