BLANK, Blanche D(avis) (?)-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born in Brooklyn, NY; died December 19, 2003, in New Rochelle, NY. Educator, administrator, and author. Blank was a social science professor who served in administrative positions at Yeshiva University and Hunter College of the City University of New York. After completing her B.A. at Hunter College in 1941, she went on to receive an M.A. in public administration from Syracuse University in 1945 and a Ph.D. in American political institutions in 1951. Hunter began her teaching career in 1946 as a political science lecturer at what is now the City College of the City University of New York. She then taught briefly at the New School before joining Hunter in 1956, becoming a full professor of political science in 1968 and directing the graduate studies program from 1967 to 1968. From 1972 to 1977 she served as dean of the Division of Social Sciences at Hunter. Blank left Hunter in 1977 to become academic president at Yeshiva University until 1981; although she left her administrative post that year, she continued to teach at Yeshiva until 1993, when Hunter College drew her back to serve as acting president. When a new president was hired by the college in 1995, Blank retired as professor emeritus. While at Hunter, Blank was also noted for founding the Hunter Institute for Trial Judges, for which she served as chair from 1972 to 1980. She was the author of several books, including American Government and Politics: A Critical Introduction (1973), The Not So Grand Jury: The Story of the Federal Grand Jury System (1993), and It Takes Two to Tango: International Perspectives on the United Nations: Report of a Study Conducted by the Fund for Peace (1998).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

New York Times, December 23, 2003, p. A25.