Newsletter Archives; Winter 2001
Professor Blake D. Mills, Jr.
Mills Endowed Scholarship
Mrs. Dorothy C. Mills, wife of the late Professor Emeritus Blake D. Mills, Jr. has made a major gift to the department to establish the Blake D. Mills, Jr. and Dorothy C. Mills Endowed Scholarship. This endowment is to honor and provide financial assistance to undergraduate students displaying academic excellence and promise in Mechanical Engineering. Professor Mills was a faculty member of this department for thirty-one years.A Seattle native, his lifelong ambition was to become an engineer. Professor Mills graduated from the UW in 1934, receiving bachelor's degrees in both mechanical and electrical engineering. A year later he was awarded a Science Master's Degree by MIT. He was an instructor at MIT from 1936 to 1941. He served on active duty in the United States Navy from 1941 to 1946. During this period he met Dorothy, his wife-to-be, who was also on active duty with the Navy. In 1946 he left active duty and returned to Seattle, accepting a faculty position in the UW ME Department. He retired in 1977 after thirty-one years of service to UW. Professor Mills died in 1995.
Professor Mills is remembered as a valued and stimulating colleague, an inspirational teacher and as a kind and gentle person who loved his family and delighted in giving to others.
