UPB's Blackmore Passes Away

The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford has learned of the death of David Blackmore last night. Blackmore, who was Associate Professor Emeritus of Business Management, taught at Pitt-Bradford from 1976 until his retirement in 2004. He had been in failing health and for the last several months had been hospitalized in Pittsburgh. In April, Pitt-Bradford renamed one of its top awards in honor of Blackmore. The inaugural David L. Blackmore Award for Excellence in Business was given to Ashtin M. Moyer, a senior business management major from Lewis Run, at the university’s Honors Convocation Thursday, April 10, 2008.

“The criteria for selecting the student to receive this award are leadership in and out of the classroom and academic excellence,” said Lizbeth Matz, chairwoman of the division of management and education and an associate professor of business management. “These are qualities that Dave worked to instill in our students.”

Blackmore was the first professor of business at Pitt-Bradford and was instrumental in developing the philosophy and curriculum that are still at the core of the university’s business management program.
“It was Dave’s leadership and vision that made the business program the success that it is today,” Matz said. “He understood that a good business management program needs to be rooted in the liberal arts. He was also a wonderful role model and mentor to the students.”

During his 26-year career at Pitt-Bradford, Blackmore served as president of the Faculty Senate as well as the chairman of the business management department. In 2000, he was the recipient of the Pitt-Bradford Alumni Association Teaching Excellence Award. In 2003, alumni and friends established the David L. Blackmore Scholarship Fund to provide scholarships to promising and deserving students who are majoring in business management.