Marc Blanchard, distinguished professor of comparative literature at the University of California, Davis, died on Nov. 8 after a long struggle against cancer. He was 67.

A professor at UC Davis for 39 years, Blanchard was a groundbreaking scholar, innovative teacher, sailor, masseur, weaver, salsa dancer, devoted father, loyal friend and loving husband.

Among his accomplishments, he will be remembered for charting new ground in relations with Cuba. While that country was off-limits for academic exchanges, Blanchard forged a relationship with the Cuban government and Casa de las Americas, an organization founded by the Cuban government to promote international cultural exchange. He then steered a complicated course through the U.S. State Department to establish a study abroad program in Cuba in 2001, one of only six such programs offered by U.S. institutions at the time. As a result, UC Davis is among a small number of universities that still offer a program in Cuba.

Born on Oct. 12, 1942, in Portugal as his French father and French Jewish mother were fleeing the Nazi threat during World War II, Blanchard spent his earliest years in Argentina. From there, the family moved to Egypt. After the war, they returned to Paris. In 1965, he completed his education at the Sorbonne, where he earned that university's highest degree in romance languages, comparative literature and classics.

He spoke English without an accent because in his adolescent years he walked the streets of Paris with earphones listening to English radio broadcasts to master the pronunciation.

Also fluent in Spanish and German, he published many books and almost 100 scholarly articles. He lectured throughout Europe, Latin America and the U.S. He was also known for lively conversations outside the classroom.

Blanchard became a world-renowned scholar in critical theory in the 1970s and 1980s and, later, a specialist in Latin American literature and culture and Caribbean studies.

A bold and dedicated teacher, he encouraged students to challenge boundaries, master new subjects and think unconventionally. As he developed his new interests into new undergraduate and graduate courses, he became a model of how research and teaching can be interlinked.

He was a founding member of the Comparative Literature and Critical Theory programs at UC Davis, and also taught French, Spanish and courses in cultural studies and community development.

Among his many achievements, he was proudest of helping students from all walks of life to complete doctoral degrees and advance into successful academic careers in the U.S. and Europe.

Before coming to UC Davis in 1971, Blanchard was assistant professor of romance philology and director of La Maison Francaise at Columbia University. He has held visiting professor positions at Yale, Stanford, New York University and Ruhr Universitat, Bochum, Germany.

Awarded UC Davis' distinguished professor title in 2006, he won the campus's Distinguished Teaching Award for Graduate and Professional Teaching in 2009. In 1984, he won a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.

Blanchard is survived by his wife, Raquel Salgado Scherr, and his daughter, Lauren Blanchard. A campus memorial service will be announced soon on the Department of Comparative Literature's Web site, http://complit.ucdavis.edu.