With a very heavy heart, we announce that Dr. William B. Kory, professor emeritus of geography at the University of Pittsburgh–Johnstown, passed away on Saturday, April 2, 2022 in his Florida home. Our dear friend, colleague, and mentor had been diagnosed with leukemia. He retired only last year, and we are grateful for his more than half-century of service to the discipline and his 83 years of joyful life.

Dr. Kory was unrelentingly committed to his students’ success at Pitt-Johnstown. He joined the campus as an instructor in 1971, only two years into his doctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh, where he specialized in demography and geopolitics. When the Department of Geography in Pittsburgh disbanded like so many others during the 1980s, Dr. Kory reestablished the University’s undergraduate major in Johnstown. He also believed a global education was crucial for even the most practical vocations. His experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia, as a Fulbright Scholar in Egypt, and as a Russian speaker since birth, all informed his educational mission. As more employers sought geospatial specialists, Dr. Kory chaired the initiative to establish a GIS certificate program. Dr. Kory had generous office hours – when he taught, he kept the door ajar for students – and he’d encourage students to chat with him for hours between classes. Even if one of his buddies in the state legislature or local chamber of commerce stopped by on business, Dr. Kory would make a personal introduction and insist with a welcoming grin that his students kept their seats around the desk. He wanted students to participate in all aspects of campus and the Johnstown community.

Throughout his tenure at Pitt-Johnstown, Dr. Kory made a home for students in the Geography Club. His office was filled with scrapbooks spanning five decades of raffle-ticket fundraisers, environmental field trips and creek clean-ups, conferences with the Pennsylvania Geographical Society (PGS), and the seemingly thousands of photographs students sent him after they graduated. The club met monthly at Bigdogz Grill, his favorite dive, for a Coors yellowbelly and ham sandwich. Every new internship and conference paper got a toast. Under Dr. Kory’s leadership and individual generosity, the Geography Club financed undergraduate travel to the AAG in New York, Tampa, and Washington, D.C., among many other national meetings. He also brought guest lecturers like his friend Harm de Blij to campus and hosted a week-long program of speakers for every Geography Awareness Week. At the annual department banquet or bi-annual induction ceremony to Gamma Theta Upsilon, Dr. Kory gave out a half-dozen prizes for student success, including the beloved “K” Award. Above almost anything else, Dr. Kory believed in his students, and he created opportunities to support and celebrate everybody in the department.

In his own words, one of Dr. Kory’s proudest achievements was that he had sent 200 students to graduate schools during his time at Pitt-Johnstown. Further, he was always quick to add that all his students that had attended graduate schools were successful completing their degrees. “Some may have found Jesus or a wife, and dropped out of school, but no one ever failed,” he would often say. Dozens of universities where he helped send students to graduate schools were highlighted on a customized map Dr. Kory proudly displayed from his office door. Dr. Kory used his numerous connections to tirelessly work for funding packages for all his students interested in attending graduate school. This achievement, too, should not be overshadowed as he made the process navigable and achievable for so many. He was part of the graduate school process for his students every step of the way. Dr. Kory would follow-up with his students during their graduate studies offering support and encouragement. Graduate school has the potential to change one’s life course, and he is personally responsible for changing the lives of many in a significant way.

Dr. Kory instilled the fiercest confidence in his students. He believed in his students’ potential,  sometimes before they believed in themselves, and that is a remarkable and truly special value he held. Dr. Kory had a unique talent of making his students feel valued and recognized. He bragged about his current and former students as often as he was able, and he considered the Pitt-Johnstown Geography Department his family. Dr. Kory and his wife, Mary Ann, would welcome students and colleagues into their home for meals and friendship. For those of us lucky enough to know Dr. Kory, we felt his love and support every step of the way in our personal and professional accomplishments.

Dr. Kory’s professional contribution primarily lay in his dedication to the Pennsylvania Geographical Society. He was an active member of the organization for much of his academic life. In fact, he received PGS’s lifetime achievement award last year, in recognition of his retirement. It is hard to imagine an award that was more appropriate. In particular, his “baby” was the society’s journal, The Pennsylvania Geographer, which he was instrumental in guiding to become a peer-reviewed journal. Dr. Kory tirelessly devoted much of his time to the editorial duties.

Not only was Dr. Kory a cheerleader for his students, but also an effective department head. His enthusiasm in the classroom meant that there were always students who wanted to major in geography. For a small undergraduate department, that’s our bread and butter. The tight-knit environment that Dr. Kory created meant that Pitt-Johnstown geography was a place that faculty wanted to stay. While there may be more prestigious institutions elsewhere, our geography faculty learned this truism first-hand: the grass is not greener on the other side. In fact, some left the department only to return a few years later, missing the collegiality at Pitt-Johnstown.

The impact of Dr. Kory’s efforts to lead, promote geography, and educate and enrich his students radiates far beyond Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Throughout his career Dr. Kory built a department, coalition of graduate students, and a family that stretches around the world. He is fondly remembered for immeasurable dedication to the discipline of geography, his colleagues, and his students’ success and happiness.

Compiled by:

Jacob R. Wolff, Ph.D. student, Temple University

J.T. Bandzuh, Ph.D. candidate, Florida State University; Instructor, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

Ola Johansson, Professor of Geography, University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the passing of our faculty colleague, Ron Eyton, on March 14, 2022. His death, in a hospital in Vancouver, BC, following a sudden illness was unexpected.

Ron was raised in Atikokan near present Thunder Bay, Ontario. Ron’s father was a chemist at a local iron mine and helped Ron develop his life-long love of experimentation, photography, and cartography. Summer jobs in and around the mines convinced Ron to pursue a career in academic cartography. In a span of 10 years, Ron completed degrees from Rochester Institute of Technology (AAS photographic science), the University of North Dakota (PhB, MS physical geography and geology), and the University of Illinois (PhD physical geography and photogrammetry). Ron’s dissertation fitting first-degree trend surfaces to the flood plain and two terrace surfaces along a section of the Ohio River to determine if the terraces were of fluvial or lacustrine origin was published in the Geological Society of America Bulletin.

In the 10 years following his doctorate, Ron held a variety of academic appointments at the Assistant (University of Illinois, University of South Carolina) and Associate (Penn State University, University of Alberta) Professor level. He was promoted to Professor of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at Alberta, however an institutional reorganization brought Ron to Texas State University in the Fall of 1995.

Ron was an important member of the Geography team which resulted in the Department of Geography being awarded the first doctoral program at Texas State University. Two sabbatical opportunities in his career resulted in visiting positions at the University of New South Wales and the University of Pittsburgh Semester at Sea program.

At the time of his retirement in 2006, Ron had supervised 10 doctoral and almost 30 master’s students along with serving as a member of numerous doctoral and master’s research advisory committees. Ron was best known to his students for his classes in cartography visualization and remote sensing. Ron wrote most of the analysis software used in these classes and freely shared his code with students. His photography hobby was used in the classroom as his students were encouraged to fly with him for garnering aerial photography, and use his digital multiband camera systems to acquire and process their own data. His most popular class was “Digital Remote Sensing and Terrain Modeling” which he offered at both the undergraduate and graduate level.

Ron was committed to sharing the work of he and his students, publishing over 50 papers, and making over 30 professional presentations, many with his students as co-authors. Ron was in demand to share his expertise at invited lectures as well, making 46 presentations on digital terrain modeling and raster data processing to government and private sector groups in the US, Canada, and Australia. He also served as an instructor in short courses at annual meetings of the American Association of Geographers and the National Council on Geographic Education. His expertise and commitment to sharing was recognized with teaching and service awards at the local level as well as from the Canadian Institute of Geomatics and the American Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing.

Retirement did not slow Ron. Accompanied by his spouse Lynne they traveled throughout the US and Canada, wherever Amtrak or VIA Rail would take them. After brief stops in southwest Minnesota and eastern Washington state , they finally settled in Pemberton in the Sea to Sky country of Western British Columbia. We will all miss their annual Christmas calendar illustrated with images of their many travels. All of us send our best wishes to Lynne and their children Ben and Tammy. Our memory of Ron will always include a short sleeve white shirt, khaki shorts, and if outside, a white Tilley hat.

— Prepared by Richard W. Dixon and David R. Butler, Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Texas State University

Dr. Duane F. Marble passed quietly in his sleep Tuesday February 22, 2022 with his wife and children nearby.  He loved his family, geography, his students, the outdoors, travel, good food and wine, good books, great conversation, cats, and the company of friends.

Duane was born to Francis and Beulah Marble in West Seattle, Washington, December 10, 1931. He earned three degrees from the University of Washington, earning his Ph.D. in 1959. He served on the faculties of the University of Oregon, the University of Pennsylvania, Northwestern University, the State University of New York at Buffalo, and The Ohio State University. At Buffalo, he established the first formal research unit dealing with Geographic Information Science (GIS) and the first graduate program in geography that provided a specialization in GIS. After retirement he held a courtesy appointment as Professor of Geosciences at Oregon State University.

What separated Duane from most professors was his active interest and involvement with his graduate students. He took an enthusiastic and supportive role as an advisor, a mentor, and a friend, providing great personal and intellectual encouragement and support, which carried on well past graduation. During his 40-year academic career, more than 75 graduate students completed their degrees under his supervision. His high standards prepared his students for successful careers, with many of these now close friends holding senior positions in academia, government, and industry.

Dr. Marble was instrumental in developing GIS as a strong, scientific academic endeavor. He established the International Symposia on Spatial Data Handling, collaborated on creating instructional software used by over 300 universities worldwide, and led GIS seminars in several countries. In 1993 he received an American Association of Geographers (AAG) Honors award and in 2011 he was awarded University Consortium of Geographical Information Science Fellow status in recognition of his remarkable impact.

After retiring from teaching, Duane and Jackie moved to Oregon and he stayed active in consulting, researching, and guiding scientific research in Geography. His presence in GIS education will continue through the Marble Fund for Geographic Science which he created in 2005. This Fund supports the William L. Garrison Award for Best Dissertation in Computational Geography and the Marble-Boyle Undergraduate Achievement Award, which are administered by the AAG.

Duane is survived by his spouse of 65 years, Jacquelynne, his cousin Kathy Kelley, his children, Kim and Dan Schnell and Doug and Claire Marble, and his grandchildren, Elizabeth and Brendan.

In lieu of flowers, the family wishes any memorial contributions be made to the Marble Fund for Geographic Science, managed by the American Association of Geographers (https://www.aag.org/donate/#/donate, select ‘designate my donation to “other,”’ select the Marble Fund for Geographic Science.)