James C. Blair was born on June 20, 1936, in Johnson City, Tennessee, to James and Reba Blair and grew up in Bristol, Tennessee. He received a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University and master’s and Ph. D degrees from the University of Tennessee, all in engineering. He worked five years at General Dynamics in Fort Worth, Texas in aircraft flight control, and in 1963 moved to Huntsville to work for NASA. He spent 33 years at NASA in various capacities, retiring as Director of the Structures and Dynamics Laboratory. He was awarded the Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive.
Following retirement, Jim taught at UAH, then as an ASRI employee where he and associates developed and taught courses in engineering systems and culture for NASA Employees.
Jim enjoyed serving on the Board of the Food Bank of North Alabama and volunteering at Manna House. He was a long-time member of First United Methodist Church.
He is survived by his wife, Pat, having been married in 1959; daughter, Alisa and son-in-law, Mark Spray; sister, Peggy Peters of Bristol, Tennessee; nephew, John Peters; and niece, Suzannah Bowman.
A graveside service will be held on Wednesday, January 19, 2022, at 1:00 p.m. at Maple Hill Cemetery with the Revs. Coy Hallmark and Bill Crosby officiating. The family requests that guests wear masks and observe social distancing.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to HudsonAlpha Foundation, ALS Research Fund, 601 Genome Way, Huntsville, Alabama 35806, or HEMSI, P.O. Box 7108, Huntsville, Alabama 35807.
