Professor James Louis Blawie was a professor of law at Santa Clara University’s School of Law for 30 years, from 1960 – 1990. His teaching interests were property and probate, trusts and the public law. SCU Professor of Law, Father Paul Goda remembers, “Jim was one of a small band of dedicated law teachers who kept the School of Law going in the difficult period of the 1950’s and 1960’s. Jim and his colleagues laid a foundation for the future growth of the law school.”
Professor Blawie was born on March 26, 1928 in Newark, New Jersey and passed away on November 29, 2004 at the age of 78.
He received his B.A. in Government and International Relations from the University of Connecticut in 1950, his M.A. in Government from Boston University in 1951, his J.D. from the University of Chicago Law School in 1955 and his Ph.D. in Political Science from Boston University in 1959. He was admitted to the Connecticut State Bar in 1956 and the California State Bar in 1965.
Prior to joining Santa Clara University’s School of Law he served on the faculties at several colleges and universities including, Boston University (1951 – 53), Michigan State University (1956) University of Akron School of Law (1956-57), Columbia Law School (1957-58) and the University of California at Berkeley (1958-60).
Professor Blawie also served his country. He was a Major in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, United States Army Reserve. He was commissioned in 1963 and honorably discharged in 1977. While at the law school, he was active in the California Law Revisions Commission and a Complaints Examiner for the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington D.C.
He is survived by his wife, attorney Marilyn-June Beyerle Blawie, with whom he co-authored several books and publications, his son, attorney Elias J. Blawie, daughters Cecelia and Christiana, and four grandchildren.
