Hey Jude!

veteran of World War II, Jules Blake always believed in the power of education; he attended the University of Pennsylvania on the GI Bill, and eventually would set up an endowed scholarship there to encourage women to study engineering. He believed his success in research and development for companies such as DuPont, Kendall and Colgate-Palmolive was meant to be shared through giving back to causes and places that meant the most to him.

It’s something his daughter Jude Blake would emulate for much of her adulthood. As a longtime supporter, mentor and all-around advocate for the University of New Hampshire, Jude Blake ’77 took her father’s advice to heart and has given back to UNH and the Seacoast New Hampshire community for decades. Current chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board at the Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics and a former USNH Trustee, she’s contributed 54 years of active board service to UNH, including serving on the UNH Foundation Board, the UNH Alumni Association Board, the Northern California chapter of the UNH Alumni Association, and she also mentors scores of current and former Wildcats. Her energy and passion are well-known in area non-profit circles.

She champions UNH’s Northeast Passage, a program that aims to empower people living with disabling conditions through therapeutic recreation and adaptive sports. She’s also a longtime benefactor of Shoals Marine Laboratory on Appledore Island, a UNH-Cornell remote field station, a leader in marine science undergraduate education. She’s also served on the boards of The Music Hall entertainment venue and emergency and transitional shelter Cross Roads House, both in Portsmouth. Todd Black ’87, serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board with Jude. “When she’s on a project, she doesn’t do it halfway,” he says. “She gets results.” It’s no surprise, then, that Blake is this year’s recipient of the Hubbard Family Award for Service to Philanthropy (see sidebar).

Soon after she arrived, UNH became Blake’s second home. “I felt like the school really embraced me,” she says. “I was happy the minute I moved into Christensen.” Already independent, she jumped into campus life, becoming friends with the resident assistants in her dorm. She was an RA for two years (one of her fondest college memories is serenading residents of Christensen on a kazoo) and joined the Chi Omega sorority. Although she entered UNH as a math and chemistry major, a micro-economics class with professor emeritus Manley Irwin made her rethink her choice. “The class covered how the economic system works,” Blake says. “I enjoyed it so much I decided to take a marketing class,” she recalls of the class taught by Irwin, with whom she still stays in touch. She changed her major to business with a concentration in marketing, transferred to the business school and went on to receive a master’s degree in business administration from the Wharton School of Business in 1980.

Blake’s marketing career began at consumer goods giant General Mills. She credits executive Tanna Moore, a mentor, with helping her identify meaningful personal goals, not just career milestones. “I told her I’d like to be the first in my business school class to be a product manager at General Mills,” Blake recalls, “but she really pushed me to come up with personal goals, which I ultimately wrote on a notecard. I wanted to use my skills and talent to help organizations and people who couldn’t pay me for that work. It meant becoming a philanthropist.” Blake’s career includes management positions at PepsiCo, Ameritech and Cablecom of Switzerland. Now retired, she works full-time on charitable causes and bringing people together, lending considerable expertise and guidance to her philanthropic endeavors, including serving on the Northeast Passage Advisory Board and co-chairing the UNH Foundation Board’s capital campaign committee.

The Peter T. Paul College of Business and Economics — and especially its students — are Blake’s passion. She made her first gift to UNH not long after graduating from Wharton. In 2011, she created an endowed scholarship for deserving business students. In 2017, she announced an $8 million planned gift that will provide scholarships and other support to Paul College students and enable more Wildcats to participate in Northeast Passage programs and the Shoals Marine Laboratory. Says Jill Gravink, founder and executive director of Northeast Passage: “Jude is all in, all the time. She understands what we’re trying to do and takes every opportunity to advocate on our behalf.” It was Blake who helped create (and who continues to support) an annual fundraising celebration that in seven years has raised nearly $1 million for the adaptive sport and recreational therapy programs at NEP. She was key to raising funds to build the state-of-the-art Peter T. Paul College building and guest lectures in a variety of Paul College courses. Most recently, she rallied donors to contribute to a fund named for Deborah Merrill Sands, the retiring dean of Paul College. “When she has a vision, she follows through,” notes Black. He credits her for helping boost the school’s financial support, in turn increasing its visibility among potential students and alumni, attracting top faculty and creating unique opportunities for learning within the college. “She’s really taken the alumni network and business contributions to a whole other level,” he says.

Paying forward her own mentoring experience, Blake has counseled dozens of Paul College students. They benefit from her advice on everything from dealing with school pressures to career choices. “I’m there to be a sounding board, hear about their struggles with jobs, life and school,” she says. “It’s incredibly rewarding to help these young adults think about their futures.” She takes them to fundraisers, too, to learn lessons about giving back. USNH Trustee Michael Pilot ’84 notes how Blake uses her professional and personal network to help students. “She infuses enthusiasm into everything she does,” he says. “She invites her contacts to listen to students and help fund their ideas.”

Likewise, the students Blake mentors are grateful for her support. Alexys Gilcreast ’18 recalls Blake’s personal involvement and support at pivotal moments throughout her college career. “Jude gave me the tools to be the best version of myself,” Gilcreast says. “When I was faced with a difficult decision as the first female leader of a student group at Paul College, Jude answered my email within minutes and called me to talk me through it. Whenever I felt overwhelmed or discouraged, a conversation with Jude changed my outlook.”

UNH President James Dean often witnesses firsthand — and marvels at — Blake’s energy. “Jude cares about students as individuals,” he says. “It’s extraordinary the networking she does with them. Just the idea that an alum as successful and prominent as Jude takes interest in our current students makes them feel different and special.”