Jane Blankenship, a former professor of communication at the University of Massachusetts, died late last month at a hospice facility in Holyoke, Massachusetts, from complications relating to a 2008 automobile accident. She was 80 years old.
A native of Huntington, West Virginia, Professor Blankenship joined the faculty at the University of Massachusetts in 1966. She served on the faculty for 31 years until her retirement in 1997. Earlier in her career, she was on the faculty of Mount Holyoke College.
Dr. Blankenship was a graduate of the University of Akron and held a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. In 1978, she was elected president of the National Communication Association.