Peter Burrough

Peter Alan burrough, an innovator in GIS research, died earlier this year in Leiden, The Netherlands. Burrough received his bSc (First Class Honors) in chemistry from the University of Sussex, brighton in 1965, and his doctorate from the University of Oxford in 1969. In 1973, he went to Sydney, Australia to become Lecturer in Soil Science at the University of New South Wales. Burrough moved to The Netherlands in 1976, where he was based for nearly three decades. He first worked in Wageningen as a Senior Research Scientist at STIbOKA (the Dutch Soil Survey) from 1976 to 1980. He later moved to Wageningen Agricultural University, where he became Senior Lecturer in Spatial Analysis and Soil Science. Burrough was appointed Professor of Physical Geography and Geographical Information Systems at the Geographical Institute of Utrecht University in 1984. Research activities in physical geography at Utrecht University before that time had mainly focused on geomorphology. Under Burrough’s leadership, GIS, geostatistics, environmental modeling, and remote sensing were introduced to both the teaching curriculum and the research agenda of the department. Between 1984 and 1994, he was the initiator and chairman of two major five-year research programs: Landscape, Environment, and Land Use (LAMIRU) from 1984 to 1988, and Geographical Information Systems and Landscape Analysis (GISLA) from 1988 to 1993. Burrough is recognized for a seminal work in GIS, Principles of Geographical Information Systems. Published in 1986 by theClarendon Press, the book became an instrumental resource for soil scientists as well as geographers, surveyors, social scientists, urban planners and students in these fields. The book promoted interest in the newly developing GIS field. Peter A. Burrough (Necrology). 2009. AAG Newsletter 44(7): 19.

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Samuel Attoh

Samuel Stephen Nii Kojo Armah Aryeetey-Attoh was born June 26, 1956, in Accra, Ghana. He was the last born and only son to Samuel Attoh and Cecilia Taiwo Attoh.

Samuel received his BA with Honors from the University of Ghana, his Masters from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, and his Ph.D. from Boston University, Massachusetts.

Dr. Attoh began his academic career at the University of Toledo, where he was a Geography Professor from 1987 to 2005. During this time, he also served as Chairman of Geography and Planning department from 1996 to 2003. He served as a Fellow of the American Council on Education and Administrative Placement Intern Mentor at Carnegie Mellon University, Pennsylvania, from 2003-2004.

In June 2005, Dr. Attoh became the Dean of the Graduate School for Loyola University Chicago and later added Associate Provost for Research and Centers to his title. In July of 2015, Dr. Attoh became the Interim Provost for Loyola University Chicago.

Dr. Attoh has served on the Doctoral Dissertation and Research Improvement Review Panel of the National Science Foundation, the Executive Committee of the Association of American Geographers, and was the former President of the Illinois Association of Graduate Schools. He was also a member of the Council of Graduate Schools Advisory Committee on Minorities in Graduate Education, the World Education Services Graduate Advisory Board, and the Board of the Diversifying Higher Education Faculty in Illinois Program.

Dr. Attoh was author of the book Geography of Sub-Saharan Africa (Prentice Hall, 2009) and contributed chapters in Global Change in Local Places (University of Cambridge Press, 2004), World Regional Geography (Prentice Hall) and the Columbia Gazetteer (Columbia University Press), he also published more than 30 journal articles and technical reports and presented more than 40 papers at national and international conferences.

Through his hard work, Dr. Attoh received recognition and honors, including ETS/MAGS Award to Graduate School for Excellence and Innovation in Graduate Education, Outstanding Professional Staff Award from LUC Office of Student Diversity and Multicultural Affairs. Social Justice Award from the LUC Graduate Students of Color, Association of American Geographers Service Recognition, Key to the Community Award from the Ottawa Community Development Corporation, University of Toledo College of Arts and Science Dean’s Merit Award and Master Teacher Award, Outstanding Contribution to the African People’s Association from Bowling Green State University, Outstanding UUP-sponsored Urban Research Projects from Ohio Urban University Program, American Biographical Institute Board of Advisors, and has been featured in Who’s Who in America, Midwest, and World.

Samuel “Paa-Nii” was a devoted husband and father who worked tirelessly for his family and dedicated his life to being a provider. He was a devout Catholic, which showed through his integrity and kindness. His favorite prayers were the Sacred Heart Morning Prayer and Thanksgiving Psalm. Samuel also loved to travel, visiting countries such as London, El Salvador, and Brazil, enjoying many road trips with his family, driving while explaining the geography, or catching shows and hitting in the slots in Vegas with his wife (often hitting the jackpot)!

Samuel passed away, peacefully, at home, on Monday, February 6, 2017. He leaves, to cherish his memory, a dedicated wife of 36 years, Antoinette, dear children, Annette, Annabelle (cherished son-in-law Ian), Stefan, and Sasha. His two beloved grandsons: Jersey and Aidan. His walking buddy and dog, Shika. Four sisters: Sylvia, Patricia, Susan, and Tina. Father-in-law, Gilbert Alipui Sr. Preceded in death by his eldest sister, Naa-Dedei, he became like a second dad to her children, Leonne, Laurie Ann, and Leroy. Samuel also leaves behind a number of other nieces, nephews, cousins, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, family, and friends. He will be sorely missed.

Originally published in the Bolingbrook-McCauley Funeral Chapel.

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Mary Meader

Mary Meader, a well-known pioneer of aerial photography, died recently in Kalamazoo, Michigan at the age of 91. Born Mary Rachel Upjohn in April of 1916, she dropped out of Smith College in 1935 to marry the aviator Richard Light and partner with him on an unprecedented 35,000 mile journey across the Southern hemisphere. She took flying lessons, learned Morse code, and became her husband’s navigator, radio operator, and sometimes emergency co-pilot, but her primary mission was to capture the first aerial photographs of various remote or little-known places of the Earth. Mary and Richard Light would often risk their lives in a small Bellanca monoplane lacking heat and pressurization in an effort to capture photographs from the sky. The effort took ingenuity as well as daring, and Mary Meader has often been credited with creativity and invention in certain technical aspects of her photographic work.

The 95-pound Meader built a sling from canvas and clothesline to hold her heavy Fairchild F8 camera in place as she took photographs out of an open window, often from heights exceeding 10,000 feet and in freezing temperatures. In this way, the couple made the first aerial photographs of the Nazca lines in Peru, and they were the first to capture the stunning crater at the top of Mount Kilamanjaro on film as well as the peak of Mount Stanley. They later captured many of the Pyramids of Egypt from an aerial perspective as well as surrounding settlements and urban areas. The journey was supported by the American Geographical Society. In 1941, their book, Focus on Africa, written by Richard and illustrated with Mary’s photographs, was published, causing a sensation. Mary Meader’s photographs have appeared in various exhibitions throughout the years, including at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum.

Mary and Richard Light divorced in 1961. She later married Edwin Meader, a professor of geography. She was one of 11 grandchildren of Dr. W.E. Upjohn, founder of the Upjohn Company, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical concerns. Mary and Edwin Meader became well-known philanthropists who gave generously to education and the arts. In 2006, Mary Meader was asked to sign the Explorer’s Globe at Western Michigan University in a special ceremony. The Globe includes the signatures of Amelia Earhart, Charles Lindbergh, Neil Armstrong, Sir Edmund Hillary, and John Glenn, among others.

Mary Meader (Necrology). 2008. AAG Newsletter 43(5): 16.

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Dan Irwin

Dan Irwin, emeritus professor of geography at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, passed away recently. Irwin first came to SIUC in 1959 as Director of the Cartographic Lab. He earned a masters degree there while working as the Cartographer for the Mississippi River Valley Studies Program. Irwin later earned a PhD at Syracuse University. He then took a faculty position on the Geography Department at SIUC, where he worked for many years, after the MRVS program was phased out. In addition to publishing in scholarly journals, Irwin co-authored Exploring the Land and Rocks of Southern Illinois, with Stanley E. Harris, Jr. and C. William Horrell. Before his retirement in 1991, Irwin started work on an historical novel about the contributions of topographers and mapmakers in delineating the terrain of the West during the first half of the nineteenth century. To Walk Upon High Places was published in 2005.

Dan Irwin (Necrology).2008. AAG Newsletter 43(2): 19.

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Calvin Beale

Calvin Lunsford Beale, senior demographer at the Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, died on September 2, 2008 at the age of 85. A lifelong resident of Washington, DC, Beale earned an undergraduate degree at Wilson Teacher’s College in 1945. He studied geography under O.E. Baker at the University of Maryland and received an M.S. in Sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. His 62-year career in the federal government began at the Veteran’s Administration in 1942 and included jobs in the Office of Strategic Services and the Census Bureau. Beale came to USDA in 1953 and, at the time of his death, had the Department’s longest record of full-time federal service.

Beale conducted ground-breaking research on the U.S. farm population, tracing and explaining its rapid decline over several decades. His comprehensive reporting on black farmers chronicled the circumstances underlying the massive rural exodus of the 1950s and 1960s. He was the first to uncover the 1970s’ nonmetropolitan turnaround, when for the first time more people were leaving metropolitan areas than were moving in. More recently, he drew national media attention by documenting the disproportionate placement of prisons in nonmetropolitan counties.

Beale collaborated with Donald Bogue on Economic Areas of the United States, based on their county-level delineation of State Economic Areas. Released in 1961, it remains the most comprehensive socioeconomic portrait of the U.S. to appear in a single volume.

Beale combined a legendary command of statistical data with firsthand knowledge from 50 years of travel that took him to over 2,400 U.S. counties. Conversations with USDA extension agents and other local officials allowed him to spot emerging trends and issues relevant to rural policymakers back in Washington. A love of American architecture led to a collection of over 2,000 county courthouse pictures. Several of his best photos are published as magazine covers and featured at the very popular County Courthouse web site.*

In 1990, the RAND Corporation published A Taste of the Country: A Collection of Calvin Beale’s Writings. Edited by Peter Morrison and reissued in 2002 by Penn State University Press, it includes notes from his field visits and a selection of previously unpublished papers. Beale received the USDA Distinguished Service Award in 1968 and the Secretary’s Award for Superior Service in 2003. He was made an honorary fellow of the Population Reference Bureau. In 2005, Beale received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Melungeon Heritage Association for his pioneering research on mixed-ancestry groups.

Calvin Lunsford Beale (Necrology). 2008. AAG Newsletter 43(10): 17.

*Please note: The original URL highlighting Beale’s county courthouse photos is no longer available, however these images can be researched via the Internet Archive.

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Larry Sommers

Larry Sommers, emeritus professor of geography at Michigan State University, died recently at the age of 88. He was widely influential in the discipline as an administrator, researcher, and mentor to students.

Sommers received his PhD from Northwestern University in 1950 with a study of the Scandinavian fishing industry. Although his initial graduate studies were interrupted by service with the U.S. Army in North Africa, he returned to earn a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin following World War II, in 1946.

Sommers received his first academic appointment from Michigan State University, where he received promotion to full professor in 1955. He became the first Chair of the new MSU Department of Geography and helped bring that program to national prominence, overseeing the creation of a PhD program. After 25 years as chair he spent a number of years in the office of the provost. Sommers accepted emeritus status in 1989, 40 years after his first appointment.

After his retirement, Sommers became increasingly active in the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society, for which he served as national president. In later years he was particularly active in applied geography and was a founding member of the Applied Geography Conference. He also served as U.S. representative to the International Geographical Union and left his mark on numerous other organizations, including the AAG, AGS, WRSA, AAAS, NCGE, Sigma XI, and the Explorers Club.

Lawrence M. Sommers (Necrology). 2007. AAG Newsletter 42(9): 17.

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Jacquelyn Beyer

Jacquelyn Beyer, Professor Emerita of Geography and Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, died on July 22. Jackie, as she was widely known, was a pioneer. Raised by her mother in a cabin in Colorado, her earliest ambitions were to be a foreign correspondent. Too young to fulfill her wish to enlist in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps on the outbreak of World War II, Jackie completed her B.A. (1944) in journalism at the University of Colorado, then joined the army and ran a photography lab in Germany. On return to the U.S., she earned an M.A. in Geography (University of Colorado, 1954). Unwilling to pursue the conventional goals expected of women (marriage or secretarial work) in the 1950s, she earned a PhD in Geography at the University of Chicago (1957) with Gilbert White, emphasizing resource management issues in the American West. She was one of very few women to receive the doctorate in geography in that era.

After short-term academic positions in the U.S., Jackie traveled and taught at the University of Cape Town. An important avocation in mid-life was piloting her own plane.

Beyer made long-term contributions at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs (1970-1990), where she initiated the Geography and Environmental Studies Department, serving as its Chair between 1970-76 and 1980-84. Her innovations including introducing personalized, active learning approaches to geography, and one of the earliest courses nationally in feminist geography. She established a scholarship fund for women in geography which has supported more than thirty students. Contributions to sustain this program are welcome (CU Foundation/Women in Geography Endowed Scholarship, P.O. Box 7150, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80933-7150).

A fifty-plus year member of the AAG, Jackie led the way in promoting equity. As a Regional Councillor her achievements included writing the report that introduced the non-discrimination clause into AAG’s Constitution and By-Laws and securing funding to support the Committee on the Status of Women in Geography. Her commitments to women and sexual diversity were recognized by an Award for Significant Achievement from the Sexuality and Space Specialty Group and the AAG’s Enhancing Diversity Award, of which she was very proud.

Jacquelyn Beyer (Necrology). 2008. AAG Newsletter 43(8): 17.

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Mahmut Gokmen

Mahmut Gokmen, a PhD student in Geography at the University of Oklahoma, died July 21, 2008 in Norman, Oklahoma. He was 27.

Gokmen was born in Havza, Turkey on July 2, 1981. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Istanbul in 2002. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Akron in 2007 under the supervision of Ghazi-Walid Falah. At the University of Oklahoma, Gokmen was working on his PhD under the supervision of Darren Purcell.

Mahmut’s research interests included political geography, geopolitics, sovereignty, territoriality, and the history of geographical thought. He was the author (with Tyler Haas) of “Modern Mapping of Orientalism on the Arab World: National Geographic Magazine, 1990-2006” in The Arab World Geographer (volume 10, 2007). He received the Charles Standley Memorial Award for outstanding graduate student publication from the OU Department of Geography in April 2008.

Mahmut Gokmen (Necrology). 2008. AAG Newsletter 43(8): 17.

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Bill Hance

Professor emeritus and former chair of the department of geography at Columbia, Bill Hance, died on July 12, 2008. Hance was born in New York City. He served during World War II as a naval officer and later earned his PhD from Columbia University (1949). Hance was an active member of the American Geographical Society and served a term as AGS President from 1972-73. He also served on the faculty advisory committees of the American Assembly, the Columbia University Press, and the Smithsonian Institution International Program on Population Research, and on many Columbia committees including the University Senate.

Hance was a founding fellow and director of the African Studies Association. In 1967, he was named an honorary fellow of the AGS, and was honored by the Nigerian Society of Geographers for “distinguished contributions to the science of geography in Africa.” He gave visiting lectures on Africa at many of American colleges and universities in the 1950s, when the future of Africa was emerging an important topic of public debate in the U.S. in the years following WW II. Hance also served as a consultant to several government agencies, including the State Department and the Office of Naval Research.

Bill Hance (Necrology). 2008. AAG Newsletter 43(8): 17.

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Herbert Donald Hays

Herbert Donald Hays, retired professor of geography at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, passed away on July 6, 2008 of natural causes at the age of 86. He was a native of Berea, Kentucky. Hays’ education was interrupted by World War II, serving his country as a military pilot. After the war he completed his undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky and later did graduate work at the University of Michigan.

Hays took a faculty position in the Department of Geology and Geography where he taught geology, physical geography, microclimatology, urban and regional planning, and air photo interpretation. He collaborated on The Atlas of Alabama and traveled widely as a consultant in oil and gas exploration. Hays was an active member of the AAG and SEDAAG over his 36-year career. He played an important role in establishing the Department of Geography at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa. He retired in 1986.

Herbert Donald Hays (Necrology). 2008. AAG Newsletter 43(7): 22.

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