Blair received her
Bachelor of Arts in
Art History and
Sociology from
Tufts University in 1970. She then continued education by receiving a
Doctor of Philosophy in Art History and
Middle Eastern Studies from
Harvard University in 1980, graduating in the same exact program as her husband,
Jonathan M. Bloom, whom she married in that year. Blair's doctoral dissertation was titled "The Shrine Complex at Natanz, Iran." Following graduation from Tufts, Blair took a one-year position as an instructor of sociology at
Shiraz University. After receiving her doctoral degree, she and Bloom were named Aga Khan Lecturers on Islamic Art and Architecture at
Harvard University and at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology until 1981. In the following year, Blair was a lecturer at the
University of Pennsylvania. In 2000, Blair and Bloom were named to the dual professorship of Norma Jean Calderwood University Professor of Islamic and Asian Art at
Boston College. In that same year, she served as the artistic consultant, with Bloom as principal consultant, for the documentary titled
Islam: Empire of Faith. In 2006, they also began holding the joint post of Hamad bin Khalifa Endowed Chair of Islamic Art at
Virginia Commonwealth University. During the 2014-2015 academic year, Blair and Bloom held a research residency at the
Shangri La Museum. The couple retired from teaching in 2018. ==See also==