• John Augustus Blume was born on April 8, 1909 in Gonzales, California.
• At a young age, he worked for his father as a steel erector and rigger.
• He had several other jobs to pay for his education including: laborer, carpenter and truck driver.
• He witnessed the end result of the Santa Barbara earthquake in 1925 and helped with the rescue work.
• John started his education at Stanford University in 1929 when he created his own study plan.
• John did not agree with the idea that building were said to be “static”. Instead, he thought of it as more of an
approximation.
• He studied under Professor Lydik S. Jacobsen.
• In 1934, Dr. Blume constructed his own multi-story dynamic building model.
• He received his Degree of Engineering in 1935.