Identity area
Type of entity
Person
Authorized form of name
Bliss, John William Michael
Parallel form(s) of name
- J. M. Bliss; Michael Bliss
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1941-2017
History
John William Michael Bliss was born January 18, 1941 in Kingsville, Ontario, the second of three sons of Dr. Quartus Bliss and his wife Annie Crowe. He studied at the University of Toronto in the science program, he switched to the Philosophy program, minoring in History with the goal of becoming a United Church Minister. After spending a summer preaching in the Northwest Territories he decided against following that pursuit. After receiving his B. A., following an 8 week training course, he began teaching high school students at Central Collegiate Institute in Hamilton, and then Lawrence Park Collegiate. He married his wife in 1963.
Bliss went back to the University of Toronto for a Master's degree in History, also earning his Ph.D from the University as well. After receiving his Ph.D, he spent the following year at Harvard University as a teaching assistant to then University of Toronto President Claude Bissell. He returned to Toronto, taking up the job of full-time lecturer at the University of Toronto. He achieved a full professor in 1978. A mid-career change in direction produced six brilliant books of medical history.
He retired from the University of Toronto in 2006 and was appointed University Professor Emeritus.
Other honours received by Bliss included: elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, promoted to officer of the Order of Canada in 2013, received a lifetime achievement award from the American Osler Society and was granted six honorary degrees from universities in the United States and Canada. He was an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons and in 2016 he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.
Michael Bliss died May 18, 2017.