Paul Bloland; Ex-USC Official, Psychologist

Paul Bloland, a psychologist, professor and former vice president of student affairs at USC who prided himself on defusing student anti-Vietnam uprisings, has died. He was 75.

Bloland, also a well-known conservationist and mountaineer, died Nov. 19 of cancer at his home in Rancho Palos Verdes, USC officials announced.

Head of the university’s counseling psychology department as well as dean of students, Bloland channeled student outrage over U.S. bombing in Cambodia in the early 1970s into discussions with campus faculty and administrators including then-USC President John R. Hubbard.

Bloland may have proved slightly less popular with students over his 1971 opposition to permitting 24-hour male visitation in women’s dormitories. Although women students voted 4 to 1 for the open-door policy, Bloland objected because of security questions and the university’s legal responsibility for minors.

A Sierra Club member for 34 years, Bloland climbed with its 100 Peaks, Desert Peaks and Sierra Peaks sections. He also belonged to the Iowa Mountaineers, the Austrian Alpine Club and the Alpine Club of Canada.

Born in Mt. Horeb, Wis., Bloland served in the Army during World War II and the Korean War, earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University of Wisconsin and a doctorate in educational psychology at the University of Minnesota.

He spent four years as dean of students at Drake University in Des Moines before coming to USC in the same capacity in 1964. He retired in 1989.

Bloland served as president of the American College Personnel Assn. and earned its Contribution to Knowledge Award in 1995. He also was a charter director of the American Assn. of University Administrators and in 1990 was elected president of the California Assn. of Adult Development and Aging.

He wrote a 1970 book, “Student Group Advising in Higher Education,” and co-authored the 1994 “Reform in Student Affairs: A Critique of Student Development.”

Survivors include his wife, Ruth; two sons, Eric of Salt Lake City and Peter of Atlanta; and a brother, Harland, of Winter Park, Fla.

A memorial service is scheduled for 2 p.m. Dec. 15, in USC’s Town and Gown. The family has asked that memorial donations be sent to the Rossier School of Education’s General Scholarship Fund at USC.