John Lounsbury

John F. Lounsbury, born in Perham, Minnesota, passed away on December 26, 2003, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, at the age of eighty-five.

John received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from the University of Illinois, and his Ph.D. from Northwestern University (1951). He began his career at Antioch College, and later taught at Eastern Michigan University. John joined Arizona State University as chair in 1969 and remained in that position until 1977. He remained in the department until retiring at age sixty-eight, in 1987.

During his tenure at Arizona State, Lounsbury was instrumental in establishing a Ph.D. program in 1972 and through his sociable personality did a great deal to bring harmony to a fractionalized department.

He authored or co-authored several books, chapters, and many journal articles in areas including physical geography, economic geography, planning, agricultural geography, gaming, and land use policy.

John’s greatest contribution to the discipline, however, was as a mediator and consensus builder. This is reflected in his various roles as director of projects including the “Spatial Analysis of Land Use Project,” the “Environment-based Education Project,” and the “Commission on College Geography.” In the period 1957-1980 he was personally engaged in, or supervised, a series of grants from various sources that totaled in excess of $2,700,000.

His duty as an officer during World War II was defining experience. He was among the first to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day. Badly wounded, for the rest of his life he walked with a limp. He received numerous awards and medals for his military service.

Lounsbury had an easy teaching style, and was famous for injecting humor and anecdotal stories in his lectures. An excellent mentor, he guided several M.A. students and four Ph.D. students.

A student scholarship fund was established in John’s name at Arizona State University. To contribute to this fund, send a check made out to “A.S.U. Foundation-Lounsbury Travel Fund,” and mail to the ASU Geography Department, Tempe, AZ 85287-0104.

John Lounsbury (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(2): 17.

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Chauncy Harris

A former president of the AAG, Chauncy Dennison Harris, was at the time of his death on December 26, 2003 the Samuel N. Harper Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. Awarded a Rhodes scholarship in 1934, he studied geography at Oxford and the London School of Economics and then completed his training at the University of Chicago where he received the Ph.D. degree in 1940. His dissertation study of Salt Lake City was an early example of urban as opposed to rural or environmental focus in American geography. After wartime service in the Department of State and OSS, Professor Harris returned to the University of Chicago where he remained for the rest of his career. His early publications on urban functions and industrial location in the United States resulted in prompt recognition by the geographical profession and rapid promotion at the University of Chicago. While still in military service in Washington, he began to study Russian and developed what would be a life-long interest in the Soviet Union. The extraordinarily rapid urbanization of the USSR was the focus of many articles and his much acclaimed book “Cities of the Soviet Union,” published in 1970. The ethnic complexity of the Soviet realm was an additional major subject of investigation. Soon recognized as a serious and objective scholar, he was well received during his many trips to the USSR and made a persistent effort to bring the work of Soviet geographers to the attention of Western colleagues. Together with Theodore Shabad of the New York Times he played a key role in launching and writing for the journal “Soviet Geography: Review and Translation.” He also found time to pursue an interest in bibliography and produced reference works of enduring value.

In addition to his research and teaching, professor Harris served for several years as Secretary-General of the International Geographical Union, a position that permitted him to make good use of his ability to speak French, German, and Russian. At the University of Chicago he served not only as a professor but also as Dean of its Social Sciences Division, Director of its program of international study, and Vice President for Academic Resources. After reaching mandatory retirement age in 1984, he continued to be active in research and wrote articles on German unification and the ethnic composition of Eastern Europe and the successor states of the former Soviet Union.

Professor Harris received many tributes during his long and productive career, including several honorary degrees, membership in the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and medals from the American Geographical Society, Royal Geographical Society, and Berlin Geographical Society. With his natural dignity, four language fluency, and unfailing courtesy, Chauncy Harris acted in many ways as a diplomat as well as a scholar.

Chancy Dennison Harris (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(2): 17.

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George Beatty

George F. Beatty, Professor Emeritus, Department of Geography, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana died on December 3, 2003. He was born in Cowan, Indiana on June 9, 1918. Beatty received his B.S. from Ball State University in 1949 and M.S. and Ph.D. from University of Illinois in 1951 and 1958 respectively. From 1943-54 he worked at the Department of Geography at Calcutta University, India on a Fulbright research grant. Before coming to Ball State, George worked for the University of Tennessee at Martin and Northern Illinois University. He joined Ball State in 1958 and retired in 1983.

George F Beatty (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(2): 18

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Raj Mathur

Raj Bahadur Mathur was born February 1,1936 in Hasanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. He died on December 1, 2003 in Orange, California. Mathur earned his bachelors degree in geography at Camp College in Delhi and a master’s in geography and economics from Punjab University, Camp College, Delhi. He came to the United States in 1966 and at the University of Minnesota he earned a master’s degree in economics and in 1973 completed his Ph.D. in geography. Through his graduate study and early career, he was involved in the creation of the Historical Atlas of South Asia, eventually published in 1978.

He taught at California State University, Northridge before joining HDR Ecosciences in 1977 as and economic geographer. In 1983, Mathur joined Tetratech Inc., where he later became vice president, and in retirement, a consultant.

Raj Mathur (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(3): 11.

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Bill Loy

University of Oregon geography professor William (Bill) Loy died on 25 November 2003, of complications from cancer.  He was 67.  After completing graduate degrees in geography at the University of Chicago and the University of Minnesota, Bill went on to carve out a thirty-year career at the University of Oregon.  A noted cartographer, Bill served as Director and Cartographer for two editions of the Atlas of Oregon.  Both atlases won numerous awards, including the Globe Book Award from the Association of American Geographers (2001) and the Best Book and Atlas Award from the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping (2002).  They have served as models for many other state atlases.

Bill was an extraordinarily active AAG member, leading membership drives in his region and supporting AAG initiatives throughout his career.   He also was one of the country’s most influential teachers of cartography, mentoring a number of students who went on to carve out distinguished professional careers as mapmakers.  For his work in this and other areas, Bill received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Service Award from the University of Oregon (2002), Oregon Scientist of the Year from the Oregon Academy of Science (1997), and the Distinguished Service Award from the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (1991).  Memorial contributions may be made to University of Oregon Foundation Geography Department (https://geography.uoregon.edu).

William Loy (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(1): 15.

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Raymond Peterson

79, Professor emeritus, Department of Geography, Ball State University, and Muncie, Indiana died in Ocala, Florida on November 20, 2003. Peterson was born in Galesburg, Illinois. He received his Ph.D from the University of Florida in 1967 and immediately joined at Ball State. He retired in 1984. Peterson was in the U.S. Navy during WW II in Pacific Theater.

Raymond Peterson (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(2): 17.

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Meera Schoen

Professor emeritus, Department of Geography, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana died on November 18,2003 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Born in West Bengal, India Meera received her Ph.D in 1951 from the London School of Economics and joined Ball State University in 1970. Before her arrival to Ball State, Meera worked at Western Washington State University, Calcutta University, and the Indian Institute of Management and Social Welfare in Calcutta. Schoen retired from Ball State in 1988.

Meera Schoen (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(2): 17.

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David Watts

David Watts, who died of a stroke on 13 November 2003, was among a talented group of geographers appointed at the University of Hull, UK, in the 1960s. David came to the Hull Geography Department in 1963 and was promoted to Reader. He served as Dean of the School of Geography and Earth Resources 1988-1991. He retired in 2002.

Born in 1935 in Derbyshire, David Watts held degrees from University College, London, the University of California at Berkeley, and McGill University, Montreal. His doctorate on the introduction of plants and landscape change in Barbados began a love affair with the Caribbean, which culminated in 1987 the remarkable study The West Indies; patterns of development, culture and environmental change since 1492. It was later translated into Spanish.

David was a pioneer in the promotion of biogeography, and his Principles of Biogeography (1971) became a standard text. A significant achievement was the establishment of the Journal of Biogeography, for which David was the founder-editor. In the 1990s David’s interests in island ecosystems and the Caribbean were extended to China, Korea and the Middle East.

David Watts was a scholar of genuine international repute and a congenial colleague, a courteous and sensitive man with a wide circle of friends. He leaves a widow, Nancy, and a son, Chris, from his first marriage.

David Watts (Necrology). 2004. AAG Newsletter 39(1): 15.

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Louis C. Peltier

Louis C. Peltier of Bethesda, Maryland died on 28 October 2003 at the age of eighty-seven. Born in Leominster, Massachusetts and a scholar of military geography, Peltier earned his B.A. at Clark University in 1937, his master’s at Columbia University 1939, and his Ph.D. at Harvard in 1948. Peltier co-wrote the text Military Geography in 1966 with George E. Pearcy. He held various positions throughout this career including Senior Economist and Head of the Regional Economics Section at the Midwest Research Institute; Analyst at Research Analysis Corporation in McLean, Virginia; Professor at University of Pittsburgh; and Environmental Planner for Montgomery County, Maryland.

Louis C. Peltier (Necrology). 2003. AAG Newsletter 38(11): 26.

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Terry Jordan

Past president of the Association of American Geographers, died at his home in Austin, Texas, on 16 October 2003, from pancreatic cancer. (In recognition of his 1997 marriage, he began using the name Terry G. Jordan-Bychkov as his professional nom de plume, while retaining his birth name for other purposes). Born in Dallas in 1938 as a sixth generation Texan, Terry earned his master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin (where he met Walter Prescott Webb) and a doctorate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. His dissertation was later published as German Seed in Texas Soil: Immigrant Farmers in Nineteenth-Century Texas (1966). This was to be the first of fifteen authored or co-authored books and textbooks published during his lifetime. These include The Upland South: The Making of an American Folk Region and Landscape (2003); The American Backwoods Frontier: an Ethnic and Ecological Interpretation (with M. Kaups, 1989), one of a handful of books that offer a truly original interpretation of the American identity; and The Human Mosaic: A Thematic Introduction to Cultural Geography (nine editions 1976-2003, with Mona Domosh and Lester Rowntree), a classic textbook. At the time of his death he had completed field research in sixty-five countries, reflected in books and journal articles focused on Australia, Siberia, and the European source regions of Texas folk culture. A book expressing his view of the discipline, My Kind of Geography, is forthcoming. Terry was elected President of the Association of American Geographers (1987-88) and also received the AAG Honors Award in 1982 and Distinguished Scholar Award from the AAG American Ethnic Geography Specialty Group. For many years he chaired the geography department at the University of North Texas before joining the Department of Geography at the University of Texas at Austin in 1982 as the Walter Prescott Webb Professor of History and Ideas. He received awards for his work from the Pioneer America Society, National Cowboy Hall of Fame, Texas State Historical Association, Texas Heritage Council, American Association for State and Local History, and the Agricultural History Society. He was elected a member of the Texas Institute of Letters, and a Fellow of the Texas State Historical Association. Sessions in Terry’s honor have been organized by his students for the 2004 AAG Annual Meeting in Philadelphia. In accordance with his family’s wishes, donations in Terry’s name may be may be made to the UT Department of Geography and sent to the Department of Geography, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas 78712.

Terry Gilbert Jordan (Necrology). 2003. AAG Newsletter 38(11): 26.

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