Anthony C. Blaz
Author
Anthony Crisostomo Blaz (1958 – 2016), son of Brigida Lujan Crisostomo (Familian Bejong-Capili) and Joaquin Garrido Blaz (Familian Dero) was born and raised on Guam. Blaz graduated at the University of Notre Dame at South Bend, Indiana, with a BA in Business Administration in Management and Accountancy in 1980, and received an MA in Public Administration from the University of Guam in 2004.
Blaz worked in the private and the public sector for decades. He worked in an accounting firm and opened an energy conservation business in the early 1980s and then went into public service by heading the predecessor of the Guam Waterworks Authority (PUAG). He also was elected as a Senator in the 21st to the 25th Guam Legislature. Blaz entered the media sector and became a talk show host for “Positively Local,” a radio program that discussed pressing local issues, for over five years before becoming the Administrator of Guam Economic Development Authority. He later worked at the Department of Administration as a Deputy Director and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Guam and Guam Community College.
He was instrumental in the Ugam Water Project, the first surface water project in the Government of Guam. Blaz’s milestone legislation as a Senator includes the “Family Violence Act” and “The Healing Hearts Project,” among others.
Blaz, a longtime public servant, was committed to the Chamorro language and culture preservation. As a member of the Guam Legislature, Blaz authored legislation which created appropriations to augment the Spanish Collections at Richard F. Taitano Micronesian Area Research Center, University of Guam. He also helped generate genealogical histories of numerous Chamorro families of the Mariana Islands. He believed in the importance of Guam’s history and native culture and language, Blaz was committed to provide stories of notable individuals who have made a difference in Guam history.