If a colleague or student were to share a few words about Frank Blume, Ph.D., in honor of his recent retirement from JBU, they might talk about the large aquarium in the lobby of Bell Science Hall that he installed and has maintained since 2002, the math textbooks he has written, his deep study of the integration of faith and science or perhaps even the bitcoin and precious metal investments that allowed him to retire at age 61.
Chances are, though, they’d mention the 100 Steps behind Soderquist Business Center first.
Blume, a mathematics professor at JBU since 1995, is legendary on campus for his workout routine. Four days a week, he gets up at 4:30 a.m. and drives to the steps. There, his daughter, Babette, who just graduated from JBU with a degree in art and illustration, joins him to run up and down the steps 50 times.
Approximately 10 years ago, Blume offered an 8 a.m. calculus class the chance to earn extra credit by climbing the stairs with him. The idea quickly spread to other math classes, turning stair climbing with Blume into a JBU tradition.
“I’m very gentle with them,” he said, noting that to get the full amount of extra credit, “They only have to do 20 [trips up and down] in a whole week.”
When he was growing up in Berlin, Blume never dreamed that one day his exercise regimen would include traversing a grueling flight of stairs at a Christian college — or that he’d even be teaching at a faith-based university. He was exposed to Christianity as a teenager but found it difficult to believe in the miracles of the Bible.
“I left faith behind and concentrated on science,” he said.
Blume’s study of science didn’t answer his questions about the intrinsic meaning of human existence, however. Even the simple act of helping an elderly neighbor with her shopping bags prompted thoughts about this.
“What is the purpose of life, of a simple act of kindness? What’s this all about? These things were working on me,” Blume said.
For his undergraduate degree, Blume studied mathematics and physics at the Technical University of Berlin. After earning a graduate degree in math with a minor in theoretical physics from the same university, he worked at IBM in Berlin as a programmer for a year.
At that point, he decided to continue his studies and pursue math more deeply. Having previously spent a year as an exchange student at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1987, he returned there and earned his doctorate in 1995.
While at UNC, his questions about human existence became more urgent. Led by the example of author Leo Tolstoy, who had gone through a similar struggle and “overcame the loss of meaning in life by becoming a Christian,” Blume made the decision to believe during the second year of his doctoral program.
While at UNC, he also met his wife, Li Ping. The two married in 1998. Li Ping went on to work at the JBU library until their daughter, Babette, was born in 2003.
When Blume was looking for a job after completing his doctorate, his Christian faith prompted him to apply for a professorship at JBU. During his first decade of teaching, Blume researched and wrote papers about entropy theory, his doctoral specialty. He also wrote two textbooks, which he used in his own classes.
Later, his faith journey led him to start studying philosophy and the history of science, which culminated in the publication of a book titled “Science & Spirit: Why Matter Isn’t All that Really Matters.”
Blume had always been physically active, but a health crisis in 2011 prompted him to make some drastic lifestyle changes. He started climbing the 100 Steps, working up to his current level of exercise over the next few years. He also implemented intermittent fasting and later began walking 2.2 miles to and from campus every day.
His medical problems improved, as did his immune system.
Blume’s newfound strength enabled him to take two memorable teaching trips to Myanmar (Burma). During a 2015 sabbatical, he taught basic math to medics at the Jungle School of Medicine, a medical training facility and hospital in a mountainous region of the war-torn country. In 2017, during a summer trip to the remote Myanmar countryside, he taught trigonometry to construction workers.
“Hiking deep into the mountainous rainforest of Myanmar was a real adventure, and my encounters and conversations with nurses and students were frequently profoundly meaningful and spiritually edifying,” Blume said.
As Blume neared retirement, he continued to share his passions with the JBU community, further shaping his legacy. His prestigious Balzer Lecture in September 2025, on the evidence for the existence of souls, exemplified his lifelong commitment to fostering dialogue about faith and science.
Then in April, Blume’s original artworks — many of which have been displayed in Bell Science Hall over the years — were part of an art show in the Windgate Art Gallery titled “Discovering Science in Art.” In the exhibit, Blume also used well-known paintings to show how modern Western art is linked to the history of ideas in science and philosophy.
Blume enjoyed teaching math at JBU, but in retirement, he looks forward to extending his legacy in creative ways, through painting and writing books.
“If everything goes reasonably according to plan, there’s a good chance I may still live quite a number of years and have energy for creative works,” he said. “Teaching has been good, but I’m done with it now, and I’m moving on to something else.”
This article is from the summer 2026 edition of the Brown Bulletin. Access the full issue.
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