Robert L. Bliss was born in Seattle, Washington May 21, 1921. He is an architect, former dean, and most recently, a furniture designer. He lives in Salt Lake City, Utah where he and his wife Anna Campbell Bliss have been partners in an architecture and design firm, Bliss and Campbell since 1955.  

Bliss attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina 1939–42, where Lawrence Kocher was an influence. Kocher had studied under Josef Albers, a former architect for  the Bauhaus. After military service, Bliss earned a bachelors degree at MIT in 1949. While Bliss was at MIT Alvar Aalto's humanist approach to design had a significant influence on Bliss's work.  

Bliss was an associate professor of architecture at the University of Minnesota for eight years. He then began a 23-year career at the University of Utah where he was chairman, department of architecture 1963–74, dean of the graduate school of architecture 1974–86, full professor in the Graduate School of Architecture 1986–90, and retiring as professor emeritus. During his time as Chair, he introduced computer design into the architecture program. 

Biographical information on this page was adapted from Artists of Utah.

Robert L Bliss who is originally from Seattle, Washington, is the former dean of the Graduate School of Architecture at the University of a Utah. He was the founding leader of that program, as a college, following the organization of the Department of Architecture by Roger Bailey earlier. Under Bliss's direction, architectural studies on a college level in Utah achieved new heights of sophistication and professionalism. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1949) and taught at the University of Utah (1963-1990). A partner with his wife the brilliant artist Anna Campbell Bliss in the award winning firm of Bliss and Campbell since 1956, today Bob Bliss is also a leading furniture designer in Utah and his pieces are frequently featured in local and national exhibitions.

Biography courtesy Artists of Utah.

Newspaper Articles

"Artists included in E-Spousing Art show." The Deseret News, September 14, 2003.

"Galleries." The Deseret News, October 8, 1995.

"Sitting Pretty: Handmade Chairs Invite Viewers To Sit Down And Make Selves Comfortable." The Deseret News, August 26, 1993.

Books

Boston Museum of Fine Arts. American Paintings in the Museum of Fine Arts Boston. Boston, MA: Boston Museum of Fine Arts, 1969.

Davenport, Ray. Davenport's Art Reference. Ventura, CA: Davenport's Art Reference, 2004.

Dunbier, Lonnie Pierson. ed. The Artists Bluebook. Scottsdale, AZ: Ask ART.com. 2003.