Tribute to Jim Blount

Jim Blount

As we celebrate Miami University Hamilton’s 50th anniversary this year, it is fitting we pay tribute to the late Jim Blount (Miami MS ’65), a longtime supporter and dear friend of the Hamilton campus since its inception in 1968.

Blount, who passed away last year at 82, had a remarkable career. He left a legacy of major accomplishments that will benefit the City of Hamilton and Butler County, Ohio, for generations to come.

Blount spent his career in journalism, education, and transportation. He was a reporter for the Cincinnati Enquirer for five years early in his career, then spent more than 23 years at the Hamilton JournalNews including 15 as editor-in-chief.

He was named Hamilton Citizen of the Year in 2005, and Hamilton City Schools Teacher of the Year (History and Civics) in 1991-92. The former Big Blue quarterback was inducted into the Hamilton City Schools Athletic Hall of Fame in 2004. Blount also received the Butler County Historical Society Distinguished Historian Award in 2011.

Blount served for many years on the Butler County Transportation Improvement District, and through his JournalNews editorial columns, he advocated tirelessly for key infrastructure improvements that eventually came to pass, including the connector to I-75 (now Ohio 129), the Jack Kirsch underpass, the Ohio 4 bypass, and the low-level dam project on the Great Miami River.

He also pushed for the South Hamilton Railroad Crossing for more than 50 years. Today, that project is nearing completion and is expected to open for traffic late this summer or early fall. The new road ends at University Boulevard at Miami Hamilton’s front door. Appropriately, Hamilton City Council recently honored Blount by naming the South Hamilton Railroad Crossing for him.

For many years, Miami Hamilton has bestowed the Jim Blount History Educator Award to area teachers who exemplify the dedication to history education that epitomized Blount’s life and career – teachers who inspire historical inquiry and understanding among young people.

Following is an excerpt from a JournalNews column Blount wrote in 1988 when the Hamilton campus turned 20 years old, in which he detailed how Miami Hamilton came to be:

Thanks to a successful fundraising campaign in 1966 – as Hamilton was observing its 175th anniversary, the campus proposal became a reality. The Ohio General Assembly had appropriated $1.8 million for buildings. But there was a condition – that amount was only about 75 percent of the estimated cost. To receive the state funds, the community had to raise at least $600,000. Individuals, families, companies and civic groups responded with cash and pledges exceeding $1.56 million, more than twice the amount needed. Heading that campaign was Peter E. Rentschler, a Hamilton industrialist who contributed many years of community service, much of it related to education. Miami trustees recognized the role of the Rentschler family in 1967 in naming the Rentschler Library, one of the two original campus buildings.”

For many reasons, Miami Hamilton is grateful to have had such a meaningful, longtime relationship with the late Jim Blount -- and the support of his wife, Jackie Blount, who contributed significantly and selflessly to his monumental successes over the years and continues to support the campus today.