Frederic C. Blow, Ph.D., has been appointed as the inaugural Rachel Upjohn Research Professor.
This new professorship honors the legacy of Rachel Mary Upjohn Light Meader, an explorer, navigator, and aerial photographer whose catalog of work features remote regions in South America and Africa. She was born in 1916 in Kalamazoo, Michigan and was the grandchild of Dr. W. E. Upjohn, founder of the Upjohn pharmaceutical company. She attended Smith College in Massachusetts, studying Spanish and French, before marrying her first husband, Richard Upjohn Light. The two flew around the world, taking remarkable aerial photographs of the locations they explored.
Throughout her life, Meader deeply valued philanthropy, a passion cultivated by her family and their shared understanding of the importance of giving back to their community. She was especially interested in improving the diagnosis and treatment of depression and pain, endowing several generous gifts to the University of Michigan Department of Psychiatry, including the Rachel Upjohn Research Professorship. Meader passed away in 2008, but her spirit of innovation, discovery, and forward-thinking continues to make an immeasurable impact on mental health care at the University of Michigan.
Frederic C. Blow, Ph.D., is the Director of the U-M Addiction Center in the Department of Psychiatry. He is a career researcher and educator in the field of alcohol and substance use. His areas of research expertise include alcohol brief interventions in healthcare settings, substance abuse prevention, substance abuse screening and diagnosis for older adults, serious mental illness and concurrent substance abuse, suicide prevention, mental health services research, and implementation of evidence-based substance abuse and mental health practices.
Since joining the faculty at the University of Michigan in 1986, Dr. Blow’s large body of work has been directed to providing the research base and to training scholars and clinicians alike. Throughout his career, he has consistently been one of the most research-funded members of the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Blow currently has a NIAAA training grant and has had continuous funding from the NIAAA since 1988, as well as extensive funding from NIDA, VA, and NIMH during the same period. He has led many federally-funded studies including international and US training grants focused on substance misuse and abuse.
Additionally, Dr. Blow leads one of the University of Michigan’s longest-standing postdoctoral research training programs. He contributed as an original mentoring faculty member for the multidisciplinary NIAAA T-32 postdoctoral research training program for 33 years and has directed it for the past 11 years. He has mentored a substantial number of individuals at various career stages, notably a large number of current and former Department of Psychiatry faculty members.
“I am deeply honored to be appointed to this professorship,” says Blow. “Over nearly four decades, my research has centered on addiction and on mental health, integrating epidemiologic insights with intervention development to enhance care for our most vulnerable populations. My work encompasses brief behavioral interventions in healthcare, innovative eHealth solutions, and strategies for substance abuse prevention and treatment in older adults. I am especially grateful for the privilege of mentoring learners and faculty, many of whom are now shaping the next generation of scientists. This recognition is a testament to the shared achievements of my mentees, collaborators, and our collective commitment to advancing the field.”
Dr. Blow received his B.A. and M.A. in psychology from the University of Maine at Orono and his Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University.
