Robert Morris Crisler

Bob Crisler, a regional geographer who spent much of his career at University of Louisiana-Lafayette, passed away on March 23, 2013, aged 92.

Robert Morris Crisler was born on January 5, 1921 in Columbia, Missouri. Although his father was a professor of veterinary medicine at the University of Missouri, he seems to have developed an early fascination for regional geography. A childhood friend remembered how, by the time he was in grade school, he could name every town on Highway 40 from St. Louis to Kansas City and state how far apart they were.

After attending Hickman High School, Crisler gained a place at the University of Missouri, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in geology in 1941. He then moved to graduate school at Northwestern University in Illinois but was subsequently drafted into the army after America became involved in World War II.

He served with the 88th Division in North Africa and in the Italian campaign. He left the military in February 1946 as a first lieutenant, having received a Purple Heart after he was shot in the arm and an oak leaf when shrapnel injured his back.

Crisler returned to Northwestern to complete his master’s degree (1947) and doctorate (1949) in geography. His thesis was entitled “An Experiment in Regional Delimitation: the Little Dixie Region of Missouri,” which looked at the geopolitics of that region of Missouri. Many sources credit him for coining and fully defining the term ‘Little Dixie.’

His first teaching assignment was at Washington University in St. Louis, starting in 1948, until he was recalled to the military during the Korean conflict. He was assigned to the Pentagon and worked for the CIA as an intelligence officer.

After discharge in 1952, he returned to teach at Washington University until 1954 when he moved to Southwestern Louisiana Institute and University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as University of Louisiana-Lafayette) where he stayed until retirement. He was a professor of geography and served as head of the department of social studies. During this period he also served as a Louisiana state representative from 1972 to 1976 for District 45.

Crisler stayed in Lafayette for the remainder of his life. He was involved various local organizations including the Louisiana Retired Teachers Association, American Legion Post 69, Pinhook Rotary Club, Louisiana Historical Association, and First Lutheran Church in Lafayette. He was also involved in SCORE, counseling new business owners. In addition, he was a member of Mizzou Alumni Association, the Geological Sciences Alumni of the University of Missouri, and The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

It was for a particular hobby, though, that Crisler was noted. Throughout his life he was an avid collector of license plates. His son, Charles, reminisced about how the interest first developed: “Some people look at license plates when they drive and play games with them. Well, we decided we’d get one from each state. And then we wanted to get one from each year.” Together they amassed 3,000 license plates at one point. He was a member of the Automobile License Plate Collectors Association, attending meets and conventions all around the country and serving the club in many capacities, including several years as its president.

Crisler was predeceased by his first wife, Shirley Spohn, who passed away in 1978, and by his second wife, Freda Glenn Erickson, who passed away in 2012. He is survived by two sons, six grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

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Donald Deskins

Donald Deskins, Jr. was a native of Brooklyn, New York. He earned his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Michigan in 1960, 1963, and 1971, respectively. He was on the faculty of the Department of Geography at the University of Michigan from 1968 to 2002, and Chair of the Department from 1974 – 1979. When the Department was discontinued in 1982, Professor Deskins joined the Department of Sociology as professor of urban geography and sociology.

In his highly productive career, Professor Deskins made important scholarly contributions to our understanding of racial dynamics in American society. His research spanned such diverse topics as residential segregation, the construction of urban space, racial factors in site location and employment patterns, economic restructuring and teen pregnancy, and changing higher educational opportunities for minority graduate students. In addition, Professor Deskins produced numerous reports on community and economic development commissioned by the National Academy of Sciences and state and local governments. A demanding but compassionate mentor, Professor Deskins guided countless doctoral students, many from historically under-represented backgrounds, to the successful completion of their degrees. For his superior accomplishments, Professor Deskins has already received numerous University and national awards and honors.

For his many accomplishments, Deskins was selected to receive the inaugural Harold M. Rose Award for Anti-Racism Research and Practice, awarded at the 2013 AAG Annual Meeting. He died before being able to accept the award in person.

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LeRoy Myers

LeRoy Myers, a former professor of geography and city planner, died Feb. 17, 2013. A native of Pennsylvania, Myers studied at Penn State where he earned his bachelor’s degree. He later graduated from the University of Michigan with a master’s in geography. As a professor of geography, he taught at Slippery Rock University and WVU. Myers also worked in city planning for the cities of Williamsport, Meadville, and Lima in Ohio.

LeRoy also served in the army during World War II. His love of travel took him to all of Europe and much of East Asia, Africa, and Australia. Myers had a talent for photography and served as a member of the Masonic Lodge.

He is survived by two step children (Susan Miller and David Swanson) and relatives in the Clintonville, Pa., area.

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John B. Rehder

John B. Rehder of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) has died at the age of 68. He was a cherished teacher and colleague in the UTK geography department and a well-known figure on the UTK campus, where he had taught since 1967. Rehder earned both a master’s degree (1965) and a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University (1971) and a bachelor’s degree from East Carolina University (1964).

A historical and cultural geographer, Rehder’s research focused on material folk culture as reflected in traditional architecture in the American South. A distinguished author, two of his books received prestigious awards. Delta Sugar: Louisiana’s Vanishing Plantation Landscape (1999) received the Vernacular Architecture Forum’s Abbott Lowell Cummings Award in 2000. Rehder was later presented with the Pioneer America Society’s Fred B. Kniffen Book Award for Appalachian Folkways (2004), a detailed account of southern Appalachia and its cultural milieu. Both books were published by Johns Hopkins University Press. Tennessee Log Buildings: A Folk Tradition is due to be published by the University of Tennessee Press in November of 2012.

John B. Rehder (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(7): 30.

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Louis C. DeVorsey

Louis C. DeVorsey, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Georgia, has died at the age of 83.

DeVorsey received a B.A. from Montclair State University in New Jersey and an M.A. in geography from Indiana University. He earned a Ph.D. in geography in 1965 from the University of London. DeVorsey entered the U.S. Navy Officer Candidate School in Newport News, Rhode Island, in 1954, where he was commissioned as an Ensign. At his death he held the rank of Commander, USNR-Retired.

DeVorsey worked at East Carolina University from 1962 to 1965 and at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill from 1965 to 1967. He then spent the following 21 years at University of Georgia, where he was promoted to professor in 1973. He retired in 1988.

DeVorsey produced an extensive list of impressive publications in the fields of exploration and discovery and the history of cartography. Some of the better known works he authored or edited include The Georgia-South Carolina Boundary: A Problem in Historical Geography (1982, reprinted 2008), The Indian Boundary in the Southern Colonies, 1763-1775 (1966), The Atlantic Pilot (1974), De Brahm’s Report of the General Survey in the Southern District of North America (1971), In the Wake of Columbus: Islands and Controversy (1985), and the award-winning Keys to the Encounter: A Library of Congress Resource Guide for the Study of the Age of Discovery (1992).

As an expert witness, DeVorsey appeared in at least five original actions before the U.S. Supreme Court in regard to litigation concerning sea and land boundaries. He conducted research for the U.S. Department of State in connection with the U.S.-Canada seaward boundary dispute in the Gulf of Maine. This case was adjudicated by the International Court of Justice at The Hague in the Netherlands, where he was one of three geographers who served as consultants to the U.S. Litigation Team.

The Association of American Geographers (AAG) presented DeVorsey with the AAG Award for Meritorious Contributions to the Field of Geography in 1975. In 1980, the University of Georgia Research Foundation presented him its Medal for Research Creativity in the Social Sciences. DeVorsey served the Society for the History of Discoveries as Vice President/President from 1979 to 1982, and he was named a fellow of the society in 2005.

Louis C. DeVorsey (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(6): 28.

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W. Rhoads Murphey III

W. Rhoads Murphey III, died of pneumonia on December 20, 2012, at his home in Ann Arbor, Mich. He was 93. A professor emeritus of the University of Michigan’s Department of History, Murphey arrived in 1964 as a professor of Asian studies and geography. He retired in 1990, but continued to write, teach and advise undergraduate students. He stayed as the director the university’s Asian studies program until it was reorganized in 1996.

Murphey was a four-time graduate of Harvard University, receiving his A.B. in history magna cum laude in 1941 and his M.A. in history in 1942. After World War II, he earned an M.A. in international and regional studies in 1948 and his Ph.D. in Far Eastern history and geography in 1950.

He enlisted during the war as a conscientious objector and served with the British Friends Ambulance Unit in China from 1942 to 1946. Although not a Quaker, Murphey attended a Friends School in his hometown of Philadelphia. That environment shaped his belief that “killing wouldn’t solve anything.” He resolved, however, to assist against the threat of the Axis powers. In the ambulance unit, Murphey and an international group of men drove old, charcoal-powered Chevrolet trucks throughout southwest China with medical supplies.

In traveling to such places as Kunming, Chunking, Yenan, Hanoi, Hong Kong and Shanghai, Murphey met Chiang Kai-Shek and Mao Tse-Tung. Hong Kong was just an “outpost of colonialism,” Murphey recalled, and nothing like the huge metropolis that it became in post-war history.

After finishing his doctorate, Murphey joined the department of geography at the University of Washington, Seattle, in 1952. He departed for the University of Pennsylvania in 1957, but returned the following year to the University of Washington. He remained there until heading to Michigan.

Murphey wrote more than 84 works in 218 publications, with translations into seven languages. He concentrated on history and geography drawn from his experiences in China and South Asia. His books included Shanghai: Key to Modern China (1953) and The Outsiders: Westerners in India and China (1977), the latter of which won a best book of the year award from the University of Michigan Press.

The University of Michigan gave Murphey its highest honor, the Distinguished Service Award, in 1974. Murphey also accepted AAG Honors in 1980.

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Josh Winheld

Josh Winheld died at the age of 32. Winheld was a master’s student in the Department of Geography and Urban Studies at Temple University. He was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy at a very early age and was in a wheelchair since the age of 10. He obtained a bachelor’s degree in journalism before pursuing a master’s degree in urban studies. In 2009, Winheld published an autobiography, “Worth the Ride: My Journey with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy,” chronicling his experiences living with DMD, and with disability in general.

Josh Winheld (Necrology). 2009. AAG Newsletter 45(6): 18.

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Martin R. Kaatz

Martin Richard Kaatz, a long-time geography professor at Central Washington University, died on November 24, 2012, from complications following heart surgery. He was 88.

Following service in U.S. Army Signal Corps from 1943-46 in the Phillippines and Japan, Kaatz earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in geography from the University of Michigan. In 1952, he joined the faculty at Central Washington University where his career spanned more than 40 years. He was a 1965-66 Fulbright scholar while teaching at Trinity College in Dublin. Kaatz served 15 years as chair of CWU’s Geography and Land Studies Department.

In addition to his academic service, Kaatz was involved in several organizations, boards, and committees, helping shape land use planning in Ellensburg, Wash., Kittitas County, and the Yakima River Basin. CWU honored him for his service naming him a Distinguished University Professor of Public Service in 1980. The Cascade Land Conservancy recognized his lifetime achievements in conservation in 2006. In 2011, He was honored by the City of Ellensburg for his many years of service to the city.

A memorial service was held on Mar. 23 in Ellensburg, Wash., at the Hal Holmes Center. The Martin Kaatz Geography Scholarship Fund has been established in his honor.

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Robert W. Durrenberger

Bob Durrenberger, Professor Emeritus of Geography at Arizona State University, and a noted climatologist, passed away on October 20, 2012, at the age of 94.

Robert Warren Durrenberger was born in Perham, Minnesota, on October 2, 1918, the second of John and Angela Durrenberger’s five children. Both his parents came from German immigrant families. His paternal great-grandfather, the first Durrenberger in the States, migrated from Württemberg in southern Germany in 1854 and settled as a farmer in the Minnesota River Valley. Likewise, both his maternal grandparents emigrated from Germany and settled in Minnesota.

Durrenberger began his higher education at Moorhead State Teachers College (now Minnesota State University Moorhead) in 1936, graduating four years later with a bachelor’s degree in education.

In October 1940 he enrolled in the United States Army but immediately attended California Institute of Technology for a year, earning a B.S. in meteorology in 1941. He then served in the Air Corps in the southwest Pacific as a meteorologist.

After the Second World War, he was honorably discharged as a Major. He then married Bernadine Ann Stiegel from Minnesota in July 1946 and embarked upon his graduate education. First he attended the University of Wisconsin–Madison and studied for a master’s degree in geography, his advisor being the cartographer Arthur Robinson.

Having graduated in 1949, Durrenberger and his wife moved to California where they adopted two babies – Daniel in 1952 and Mary Ann in 1954 – and he pursued a doctorate in geography at the University of California, Los Angeles. He worked under the supervision of Clifford Zierer, an expert in changing land use and urban expansion. His thesis, completed in 1955, was entitled “Climate as a Factor in the Production of Lemons in California.”

Durrenberger worked briefly at the University of Kentucky before being appointed to San Fernando Valley State College (now California State University, Northridge) in 1956 where he was a founding faculty member of the geography department. During his time there he served as department chair and dean of graduate studies.

During his time in California Durrenberger consolidated his focus on arid land research, environmental problems, agricultural geography and the southwest United States. Among his publications specifically about the state were the atlas Patterns on the land: geographical, historical, and political maps of California (1957 with many later editions), the books California and the Western States (1963), Elements of California Geography (1968), and California, the Last Frontier (1969), and the edited volume California: its people, its problems, its prospects (1971).

Other important publications during this period were Environment and man; a bibliography (1970) which covered topics such as ecology, natural resources, pollution, climate and conservation, and Geographical research and writing (1971), an aide for students.

In 1971, Durrenberger moved to Arizona State University (ASU) as a full-time professor of geography and continued with his research into the environmental challenges presented by rapid population and economic growth of the American southwest. Among his publications during this period was the Dictionary of the environmental sciences (1973) which explained 4,000 terms and concepts concerned with the environment drawn from many academic disciplines.

In the early 1970s, the federal government decided to turn over responsibility for maintaining state climate records and assisting with state-focused climate questions from NOAA to the individual states. Durrenberger saw the opportunity to situate the Arizona State Climate Office at ASU. The state named him as Arizona’s first state climatologist in 1973. He was also the President of the American Association of State Climatologists in 1978-1979.

In the role of state climatologist, Durrenberger authored numerous publications specifically relevant to Arizona, including studies of precipitation, historical storms and floods, drought, and climate and energy in various regions of the state. He also served as editor-at-large for the National Weather Digest, the journal of the National Weather Association.

Concurrently, Durrenberger developed the climatology program at ASU into an internationally-recognized center for teaching and research. At the same time the Arizona Board of Regents also established of the Laboratory of Climatology, an independent unit at ASU with a mission to serve the public, state agencies and businesses of Arizona by maintaining historical climate data for Arizona and conducting research in climate-related issues.

Minnesota State University Moorhead, where Durrenberger earned his undergraduate degree, presented him with its 1977 Distinguished Alumni Award, citing his contributions in education, climatology, and service to state and federal governments.

He stepped down from his post as state climatologist in 1979 and focused on solar energy development, directing a project to assess Arizona’s solar energy resources and authoring a report on a solar radiation monitoring system for Arizona. He also served on the executive board of the Solar Radiation Division of the American Section of the International Solar Energy Society.

Durrenberger retired in 1982 and settled in Sun City, Arizona, where he enjoyed golfing, playing bridge, and spending time with friends and family.

Bob was preceded in death by his son, Dan, but survived by his beloved wife of 66 years, Bernadine, his daughter, Mary Ann, as well as three grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

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Jim Knox

James C. Knox died suddenly of heart failure on October 6, 2012.

Longtime Professor of Geography and the Evjue-Bascom Professor-at-Large at the University of Wisconsin, Madison (UW-Madison), Jim Knox is widely regarded as having transformed the subdiscipline of physical geography. In the process, he became one of the most recognized, honored physical geographers of his generation. During 43 years as a faculty member at UW-Madison, Knox’s research forever altered the field of fluvial geomorphology and opened new directions in scholarship that linked his field to broader environmental issues.

Knox grew up among the hills and valleys of southwest Wisconsin’s “Driftless Area”—a landscape he turned into a laboratory that provided far-ranging insights into the responses of river systems to climate variability and human intervention on time scales ranging from the Quaternary to the historical. Employing methods ranging from stratigraphy to geochemical analysis to the extraction of information from early land surveys—an approach he pioneered—Knox helped advance process-based approaches in geomorphology, even as he demonstrated how studies of earth-surface processes could yield insights into climate change—past, present and future.

Knox’s impact on physical geography and geography in general goes far beyond the extraordinary contributions of his scholarship. There is likely no living physical geographer who has produced more students who have gone on to assume positions of influence in the discipline than Jim Knox—so much so that one often hears reference to the “Knox School.” His pedagogic influence extends well beyond graduate education: he is widely known as an enthusiastic, demanding, and caring teacher who has sparked the interests of countless undergraduates through the years, including many who went on to pursue graduate work in geography.

Knox had significant success in efforts to advance his discipline, university, and department. He served as AAG National Councillor and was an Associate Editor of its flagship journal, the Annals of the AAG. He played important leadership roles in the geomorphology subsections of two different disciplinary associations: the AAG and the Geological Society of America. In addition, he chaired the Department of Geography at his home institution and assumed many other responsibilities on the University of Wisconsin campus. Knox served as a councilor for the American Quaternary Association and was a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He also served on numerous panels and advisory boards of the National Science Foundation.

Knox was born in Platteville, Wisconsin on November 29, 1941. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Wisconsin State University in 1963 and a PhD from the University of Iowa in 1970.

In 2011, the AAG conferred one of its highest honors—AAG Lifetime Achievement Honors—on Knox, recognizing his extraordinary achievements in research, service, and disciplinary leadership.

James C. Knox (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(10): 22.

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