As the Edward Lee Thorndike Professor of Psychology and Education at Teachers College, Columbia, Lois Bloom was credited with research and ideas that changed the field of language development, putting the whole child front and center for the first time. “Her work centered on the agency of the child in development, that the child is active in the effort required to share meaning with others, in contrast to the then-prevailing view of language acquisition as being innate,” says Patsy Lightbown, one of Bloom’s first doctoral students.

In 1970, Lightbown listened to one guest lecture by Bloom ’56 Lib at Teachers College and it changed her entire career. “She was such an inspiration,” says Lightbown, who also became Bloom’s friend. The women shared their respective adoption journeys: Bloom and her husband of 65 years, Robert, adopted daughter Allison a few years before Lightbown adopted a daughter, and the girls shared hand-me-downs as they grew up.

Bloom earned a Ph.D. from Columbia and in 1969 began her tenure at Teachers College, the first and largest graduate school in the U.S. Bloom's research involved extensive study of children over time as they moved from single words to complex communication. She was recognized with awards from the American Psychological Association and the International Congress for Infant Studies, among others. The Penn State Child Study Center holds an annual Lois Bloom Lecture on child development, partially funded by a gift from Bloom.

Bloom was a gardener, cook, traveler, and community champion. She died Jan. 14, 2025, in Williamsburg, Va., predeceased by Allison in 2021 and Robert in 2024. She is survived by a sister-in-law and several nieces and nephews. —RR