Sidney Jumper

Sidney R. Jumper, Professor Emeritus of the Department of Geography at the University of Tennessee, passed away on December 9, 2011.

Jumper received his PhD in 1960 from the University of Tennessee and joined the faculty of the department later that decade. In 1977 he was appointed Head, a position he held for 18 years. Under his leadership the department added new faculty lines and secured funding for a free-standing geography building located in the center of the campus. He also advocated for increased emphasis on research and graduate education in the department.

In 1986, Jumper and the late Theodore Schmudde established the Tennessee Geographic Alliance, one of seven pilot alliance programs in the United States. Today the Tennessee Geographic Alliance boasts nearly 5,000 members and has spent over $3.6 million on improving K-12 geography education in Tennessee.

Jumper was active in the Southeastern Division of the AAG (SEDAAG) and served as editor of the Southeastern Geographer. His contributions to SEDAAG resulted in his receiving the Honorary Life Membership Award in 1981 and Outstanding Service Award in 1987 from that division. In 1997, Tennessee’s governor named Jumper the Tennessee State Geographer. In 2000, Jumper was honored with AAG Distinguished Service Honors. A year later, the National Geographic Society established the Sidney Jumper Grant for Teaching Research in his honor.

For over thirty years, Sidney Jumper’s tireless efforts improved the status of our discipline and the quality of geography education at all levels of instruction.

Sidney Jumper (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(3): 36.

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William Horbaly

Fifty-year AAG member William Horbaly, 91, of Charlottesville, North Carolina, has died.

Horbaly was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on January 24, 1920, the son of immigrants from the former Czechoslovakia. He earned a PhD in geography from the University of Chicago, and a portion of his graduate study was completed at Charles University in Prague.

During the Second World War, Horbaly served as a United States Army tank commander in the 749th Tank Battalion, which received a Presidential Unit Citation for meritorious service in France. Horbaly saw action in France and Germany and was awarded the Bronze Star.

After returning from the war, Horbaly spent his professional career in federal government service with the United States Department of Agriculture. During his time as an Agriculture Attaché‚ he was assigned to the State Department and was stationed in Moscow for five years and Beirut for four. Upon his retirement from federal service Horbaly was the Assistant Administrator to the Secretary of Agriculture and was in charge of United States Agriculture Attaches stationed overseas.

William Horbaly (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(3): 36.

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Judith Martin

Professor Judith Martin of the University of Minnesota died on October 3, 2011, at the age of 63.

Martin was a well-known personality on the University of Minnesota (UM) campus and within the Twin Cities, where she served as a visible and prolific commentator on the history, geography, growth, and redevelopment of the Twin Cities.

Martin was born in Chicago but made the Twin Cities her adopted home. She received her M.A. in American history and M.A. and Ph.D. in American studies at the University of Minnesota. Martin began working as a research associate in the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs at the University of Minnesota in 1976, and held various positions until she was hired as a professor of geography and director of the urban studies program in 1989.

Martin was widely regarded as an exemplary University citizen. She served as chair or vice-chair for the Faculty Consultative Committee, University Senate, Senate Committee on Finance and Planning, and countless other committees on governance, planning, teaching, and students. Martin was an invaluable member of the College of Liberal Arts 2015 planning committee and recently served on the provostal search committee.

A fifteen-year member of the Minneapolis Planning Commission, Martin served that body for seven years as president, contributing to the development of plans for land use, downtown development, light rail stations, and the new zoning codes that were developed in the 1990s.

In addition to directing the Urban Studies Program, Martin was founding co-director of the University Metropolitan Consortium. She was known for her ability to blend her research, teaching and service, and was widely sought for her expertise on urban planning, policy and governance; historic preservation; urban sprawl; and landscape and culture.

Martin received many awards over the course of her distinguished career for teaching and service, including the Morse Amoco/Alumni Teaching Award, Academy of Distinguished Teachers, College of Continuing Education Teaching Award, CLA Alumna of Notable Achievement, and President’s Award for Outstanding Service.

University of Minnesota President Emeritus, Robert Bruininks, said upon Martin’s death, “I received the news of Judith’s passing with deep sadness. She was a dear friend of ours, and frequent confidante and advisor whose leadership, thoughtfulness, and broad perspective on issues impacting the University were invaluable to me over the past many years.”

Contributions may be directed to: The Judith Martin Memorial Fund, c/o University of Minnesota Foundation, C-M 3854, PO Box 70880, Saint Paul, MN 55170-3854.

Judith Martin (Necrology). 2011. AAG Newsletter 46(11): 23.

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Mark A. Maschhoff

Mark A. Maschhoff, Associate Professor of Geography at Harris-Stowe State University in St. Louis, Missouri, died in September of 2011 at the age of 71.

Maschhoff received a bachelor’s degree from Concordia Teacher’s College in 1961 and in 1965 earned a master’s degree from Bradley University. He received his PhD in 1973 from St. Louis University. The philosophy of education was his main area of professional interest, and his research involved the development of innovative teaching methods.

A longtime faculty member at Harris-Stowe State University, Maschhoff developed the geography program there, increasing the number of geography majors from 25 to 150. He developed a strong program in physical geography, his specialty, but also increased offerings across a broader range of subfields including cartography and urban geography.

Maschhoff was well-known at Harris-Stowe for bringing new technologies into the classroom. He implemented the “Goals 2000” geography standards at Harris-Stowe, and pioneered methods of team teaching. He was particularly well-known for working with underachieving students and using perceptual behavior as a technique for increasing learning comprehension and the student’s self-image.

Mark A. Maschhoff (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(7): 30.

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Wes Dow

Maynard Weston Dow, professor emeritus at Plymouth State University in New Hampshire, died on August 5, 2011.

Dow was born in 1929, close to Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine. He took a BS degree from the U.S. Naval Academy (1952) and an MA degree from Rutgers University (1960). After earning a PhD from Syracuse University in 1965, Dow took a teaching post at the Air Force Academy, where he taught 1960-1962 and 1964-1972, before moving to Plymouth State University. He served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1972.

At the peak of the Vietnam War in 1966, Dow was recruited by the Department of Defense to travel to South Vietnam to conduct research, which resulted in the publication of his book, Nation Building in Southeast Asia. It was in the late 1960s, while developing a course on geographic thought at the Air Force Academy that Dow began to conceive of the project that would later become known as “Geographers on Film” – his signature contribution to the discipline. At that time, filming an interview with synchronous sound was a cumbersome process, necessitating the use of a heavy 16 mm camera and burdensome sound and lighting equipment as well as a great deal of technical expertise. Dow’s wife, Nancy, became an integral part of the filmmaking process, learning to help set-up and then handle the shoot while Wes conducted the interview.

Working together closely over a period of four decades, Wes and Nancy Dow created one of the richest oral history collections in any academic discipline. Comprised of over 300 interviews, the Dows produced and administered the series largely on their own for 45 years, distributing episodes of the series for use in geographic thought and history classes for the cost of shipping. “Geographers on Film” is currently held at the Library of Congress through the auspices of the AAG, which took stewardship of the collection in 2009 upon Dow’s donation of the material. The Library of Congress is in the process of converting and making the series available in high quality digital formats.

At the 2008 AAG Annual Meeting in Boston, the association recognized the Dows (Nancy was honored posthumously) for their unique contributions to the discipline by organizing several special sessions featuring the “Geographers on Film” series, and presenting them with the inaugural AAG American Geographical History Award. The following year, Plymouth State University recognized Wes Dow’s career contributions to geography and the university by naming the Geographic Information System Laboratory after him.

Dow died at his home in Camden, Maine. A 39-year resident of New Hampshire, he returned to his home state in 2010. His wife, Nancy Freeman Dow, died in 2005.

Wes Dow’s family has requested that contributions in memory of Wes Dow be made to the AAG Endowment Fund. Please indicate “M. W. Dow memorial contribution” on your donation.

Wes Dow (Necrology). 2011. AAG Newsletter 46(8): 44.

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Dennis Ehrhardt

Dennis Ehrhardt, who spent 38 years teaching geography and urban planning at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, passed away on July 24, 2011, at the age of 69, after a long and courageous battle with cancer.

Dennis Karl Ehrhardt was born on December 16, 1942 in Waterloo, Iowa. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Iowa, as well as his doctorate. His PhD thesis, completed in 1972, was entitled “An ecological analysis of the zoning variance requests and approvals: a case study of Cedar Rapids, Iowa 1959-68.”

Although he was destined for an academic career, Ehrhardt’s first publications were about improving geography teaching at lower levels and co-authored with his wife, Shirley, who was an elementary school teacher. Together they wrote “Teaching World Geography Concepts: A Kindergarten Approach” (The Missouri Geographer, Fall 1972) and “Let’s Learn Our States: A Gaming Strategy” (Journal of Geography, April 1973).

Ehrhardt’s first teaching positions were at the University of Wisconsin-Oskosh and then Saint Louis University before moving to the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now University of Louisiana at Lafayette) where he stayed for almost four decades. He began as an Associate Professor and the Coordinator of City and Regional Planning, working his way up to head of the Department of Geography when the department was created. He remained the Coordinator of Geography when the department merged with the History Department.

Over the years Ehrhardt taught numerous undergraduate and graduate geography classes related to planning including city and regional planning, environmental and recreation planning, preservation planning, and housing and community development. But his expertise stretched across the breadth of human geography; at various points in his career he taught general courses on political geography, economic geography, urban geography, and social geography, as well as regional geography courses – the geography of the United States and Canada, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and the Soviet Union. Ehrhardt contributed to the intellectual development of generations of students. He truly loved teaching and mentoring the students, with many keeping in touch with him even during his final days.

In addition to his university responsibilities, Ehrhardt worked as a private consultant, including as the Planning Consultant for Iberia Parish Government, providingexpertise and consulting services for a variety of projects, such as preparing the Iberia Parish Infrastructure Master Plan, revising the subdivision regulations, and implementing a comprehensive zoning plan.

He was also an expert witness on numerous court cases concerning matters of urban planning in Louisiana and Mississippi. One of the court cases for which he testified, James Hernandez v. City Council of Lafayette 3-15, was eventually heard by the Supreme Court.

Ehrhardt was involved in several professional organizations, serving on boards and committees and presenting papers at annual conferences. He was a member of the Association of American Geographers, particularly involved in the Southwest Division, serving one year as Chair in 1981. He was also a member of the American Institute of Planners and the Southwestern Social Science Association.

Ehrhardt loved sports. He was a life-long fan of the University of Iowa’s football and basketball teams, and at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette he was actively involved in athletics.

In his spare time, he loved to fish with friends, travel around the world, and visit his family. He is survived by his two daughters and four grandchildren.

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Clyde Woods

Clyde Woods, Associate Professor of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB), died this past summer.

Woods received his PhD in Urban Planning from UCLA where he studied with Ed Soja. Since his graduate student days, he had been an active member of the geographic community. He research was centered at the nexus of regional planning, African American studies, and social justice. As a longtime member of the AAG, Woods not only sought to focus attention on the plight of poor communities of color, but he also actively encouraged and mentored black geographers in order to diversify the discipline.

Woods was also Director of the Center for Black Studies Research at UCSB. His work demonstrated his overarching belief that the purpose of public social science is to explore and strengthen the links between knowledge embedded in communities and the knowledge disseminated by universities. “Clyde Woods was an admired colleague, professor, and student mentor, and he will be deeply missed by all the members of our UCSB family,” said Chancellor Henry T. Yang. “Dr. Woods was engaged in two long-term research projects within our Department of Black Studies, one focusing on rebuilding efforts in New Orleans and the other on creating a network of community members and scholars studying race and policy issues in the Los Angeles area. He was also actively involved in Haiti relief efforts; the recent earthquake in Haiti touched him deeply, and he was passionate about helping the people of Haiti.” He joined the UCSB faculty in 2005 following appointments at Pennsylvania State University and the University of Maryland.

Woods was the author of two important books, Development Arrested: Race, Power and the Blues in the Mississippi Delta (Verso, 1998), an interdisciplinary work that reframed the history of the Mississippi Delta by unearthing and interpreting the blues epistemology of its poor black residents, and Black Geographies and the Politics of Place, co-edited with Katherine McKittrick (South End Press, 2007). In addition, he edited a special issue of the American Quarterly focused on Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, “In the Wake of Hurricane Katrina: New Paradigms and Social Visions” (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2010).

At the time of his death Woods had also completed a manuscript entitled, “Development Drowned and Reborn,” a study of post- Katrina New Orleans that his colleague and friend, Laura Pulido, will see through the publication process. Finally, Woods was also working on a book on the history of Black Los Angeles, which Ruth Wilson Gilmore and Laura Pulido hope to complete as a collaborative process. If people are interested in working on this project they should contact Ruth or Laura.

Clyde Woods (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(3): 36.

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William Ainsley

William Frank Ainsley, Distinguished Professor of Geography, Department of Geography and Geology, University of North Carolina-Wilmington, has died. During a distinguished 36-year career at the University of North Carolina- Wilmington, Ainsley taught hundreds of students, both undergraduate and graduate, who benefitted from his outstanding abilities as a teacher and mentor. His considerable contributions were recognized with three significant awards: Ainsley was named North Carolina Geography Educator of the Year in 2003, received the University of North Carolina Board of Governors Award for Teaching Excellence in 2004, and was awarded a University of North Carolina- Wilmington Distinguished Teaching Professorship in 2005. He was an active officer for the Pioneer America Society, receiving the society’s Henry H. Douglas Distinguished Service Award in 2003. Ainsley’s research and teaching interests were wide-ranging. His substantial scholarship and teaching experience allowed him to author geography textbooks that have become the standard in public school systems across North Carolina. Among his many interests were immigrant farm colonies and preservation of historical buildings and sites. Friends, colleagues and former students will remember him as a huge Buddy Holly fan who gave his annual “Buddy Holly lecture” to geography classes each February 3, the day of Holly’s death. Ainsley held numerous degrees, including an A.B. degree in Biblical Studies, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1966; a Masters of Divinity, Southeastern Theological Seminary, Wake Forest, NC, 1969; a Masters in Geography, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1972; and a PhD in Geography, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, 1977.

William Ainsley (Necrology). 2011. AAG Newsletter 46(1): 46.

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Arthur H. Doerr

Arthur H. “Art” Doerr, born on August 28, 1924, has died.

Doerr grew up in the small Midwestern town of Johnston City, Illinois, just southeast of St. Louis. He received his undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University. His college education was interrupted, as with so many other geographers of his generation, by military service during the Second World War. Doerr was commissioned as a second lieutenant and served as a navigator-radar operator in the 2nd B-25 combat Weather Squadron in the China-Burma-India Theater of Operations. After receiving an honorable discharge in 1946, he returned to the United States and earned a Ph.D. from Northwestern University.

Doerr served on the faculties of Northwestern University and the University of Oklahoma before joining the University of West Florida (UWF) as Professor and Vice President of Academic Affairs in 1970, where he hired a succession of Oklahoma geographers to anchor a program, leading to the establishment of a new department. He had previously served as Chair of the Geography Department and Dean of the Graduate College at the University of Oklahoma.

Doerr retired from UWF in 1992. During his career he also served in a number of roles outside the university setting, including as an intelligence expert for the U.S. Army, as a geologist for the Oklahoma Geological Survey, and as Cartographer and Field Team Chief for the Rural Land Classification Program of Puerto Rico. Doerr also served as Fulbright Professor at the University of the Philippines. Doerr retired from UWF as Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences and the Anna Boland Professor of Geography. Those wishing to memorialize his passing may make contributions to the Arthur H. Doerr Faculty Scholarship Fund at the University of West Florida Foundation.

Arthur H. Doerr (Necrology). 2011. AAG Newsletter 46(11): 23.

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Nicholas Helburn

Nicholas Helburn, professor emeritus at the University of Colorado and a former President of the AAG, died recently at the age of 93.

Helburn was born in 1918 in Salem, Massachusetts, and grew up in Cambridge. He enrolled at Harvard University but left after one year to work in the New Hampshire mountains. He completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Chicago and later received an M.S. in Agricultural Economics at Montana State.

During World War II, Helburn was a conscientious objector who provided alternative service by participating in bridge building and other public works projects in Tennessee and by working as a “smoke jumper” in Montana, parachuting to reach and extinguish wildfires in their beginning stages. After the war, he earned a PhD in geography from the University of Wisconsin.

Helburn was known as an avid educator, mentor, outdoorsman, traveler, gardener, ecologist, peace activist and advocate for alternative life styles. At the beginning of his career, he moved to Bozeman to start the Department of Earth Science at Montana State College. While at Montana State, Helburn spent a year in Turkey in the early 1950’s on a Ford Foundation grant, the research from which resulted in a book about dry land agriculture and village culture in Anatolia.

In 1965, Helburn became director of the High School Geography Project, one of the “New Social Studies” curriculum projects sponsored by the National Science Foundation to develop a new approach for teaching geography in high schools. He also became the first director of the Educational Resources Information Center (ERIC) for Social Studies.

Helburn joined the geography department at the University of Colorado in 1971 and chaired the department for three years. During its formative years he served on the senior faculty of the University of Phoenix, helping to develop a unique college curriculum for working adults.

In 2002, the Peace and Justice Center in Boulder, Colorado recognized him as “Peacemaker of the Year.”

Nicholas Helburn (Necrology). 2011. AAG Newsletter 46(8): 22.

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