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�ڰ������� Legacy

Blair Family

“My whole experience at �ڰ������� has been wonderful,” Jim said. It’s kind of a family thing. - Jim Blair (M.A.T. ’68 English, Literature)

In 1965, Marge Csakai (B.A.’67 Elementary Education, Mathematics; M.S. ’69 Mathematics) and Jim Blair took a Creative Writing class at �ڰ�������. The teacher was none other than Pulitzer Prize winner Gwendolyn Brooks, who three years later also was appointed poet laureate of Illinois, but that exciting fact is a mere footnote in their family story.

Four years after taking the class together, Marge and Jim were married—and each had earned their degrees. “It was quite an experience,” Jim said. “It was a confluence of important events in our lives.” Both went on to teach at �ڰ�������—Developmental Mathematics for Marge and Communication, Media and Theatre for Jim, who is now retired.

One of their daughters, Jennifer (Master’s Linguistics student and Program Specialist, Nontraditional Degree Programs), followed in her parents’ footsteps and now works at �ڰ������� as a program specialist in the Nontraditional Degree Programs. Naturally, she’s also taking classes and is on the verge of earning her third master’s degree—but her first from �ڰ�������—in Linguistics. Marge and Jim’s other daughter, Kimberly, also took graduate-level classes at �ڰ������� and now lives in Michigan.

“My whole experience at �ڰ������� has been wonderful,” Jim said. It’s kind of a family thing.