Richard G. Reider

Richard G. Reider died August 14, 2013. He was 72 years old.

Richard Reider was born in Denver, Colorado and grew up in nearby Golden, Colorado. He attended the University of Northern Colorado where he received his B.A. in history in 1963, and his M.A. in geography in 1965. After teaching high school for a year in Edgewater, Colorado, he entered the University of Nebraska where he received his Ph.D. in geography in 1969. That same year he was hired by the University of Wyoming as an assistant professor. A physical geographer with interests in soils and paleoenvironments, Rick remained at Wyoming until his retirement in 2001. His teaching rotation included introductory physical geography, weather and climate, field methods, and landforms and soils. Rick was well-published with much of his work focused on Wyoming and Colorado, and the Rocky Mountain West generally. He edited the Great Plains-Rocky Mountain Geographical Journal from 1976 to 1980. Rick was an excellent mentor of graduate students, advising nearly three dozen during his career. He also served as departmental chair in the mid-1980s and again in the early 1990s.

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Bertha Becker

Bertha Becker, a pioneering Brazilian geographer, died on July 13, 2013. She was 82.

The professor emeritus at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro specialized in Amazonian issues. Her lifelong research, which focused on the political geography of Brazil, took Becker throughout every region of her native country. Extensive fieldwork shaped her findings and unique view of environmental conditions caused by human occupation and devastation.

Becker was a graduate of the University of Brazil, receiving her degree in geography and history in 1952. She completed her doctorate in 1970 at the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, where Becker became a long-time professor. She also conducted post-doctorial studies at Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s urban studies and planning department.

During her career, Becker received a number of honors. She was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Lyon in France. She was presented the Carlos Chagas Filho Scientific Merit award. The American Geographical Society granted her the David Livingstone Centenary Medal.

Becker had more than 180 published works, including books, articles, papers and chapters. She was a member of the editorial boards of national and international publishers. She consulted for scientific institutions, including the National Research Council, and helped develop public policies for the Ministries of Science and Technology in Brazil.

She served as vice president for both the International Geographical Union (1996-2000) and the International Advisory Group of the Pilot for the Protection of Tropical Forests (1995-2005). She was also a panelist at the United Nations’ Rio + 20 conference.

“Bertha was one of a small cadre of social scientists who brought geography to prominence in Brazil in the late 1950s and ’60s. Her wise opinions will be missed,” noted David J. Robinson, professor of Latin American geography at Syracuse University.

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New Books for Geographers

New Books: June 2013

June 15, 2013

Every month the AAG compiles a list of newly-published books in geography and related areas. Some are selected for review in the AAG Review of Books.

Publishers are welcome to send new volumes to the Editor-in-Chief (Kent Mathewson, Editor-in-Chief, AAG Review of Books, Department of Geography and Anthropology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803).

Anyone interested in reviewing these or other titles should also contact the Editor-in-Chief.

June 2013

A Voyage to Virginia: Two Narratives. Wright, Louis B. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press 2013. $19.95 cloth (ISBN 978-0-8139-3466-2).
Banking Across Boundaries: Placing Finance in Capitalism. Christophers, Brett. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell 2013. $34.95 paper (ISBN 978-1-4443-3828-7).
Becoming Confederates: Paths to a New National Loyalty. Gallagher, Gary W. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press 2013. $18.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-8203-4540-6).
“Building Like Moses with Jacobs in Mind”: Contemporary Planning in New York City. Larson, Scott. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Univeristy Press 2013. $28.95 paper (ISBN 978-1-43990-970-6).
California Condors in the Pacific Northwest. D’Elia, Jesse and Susan M. Haig. Corvallis, OR: Oregon State University Press 2013. $19.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-87071-700-0).
Close Up at a Distance: Mapping, Technology, and Politics. Kurgan, Laura. Brooklyn, NY: Zone Books 2013. $39.95 cloth (ISBN 978-1-935408-28-4).
Creating the British Atlantic: Essays on Transportation, Adaptation, and Continuity. Greene, Jack P. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press 2013. $35 paper (ISBN 978-0-8139-3391-7).
Dams, Displacement, and the Delusion of Development: Cahora Bassa and its Legacies in Mozambique, 1965–2007. Isaacman, Allen F. and Barbara S. Isaacman. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press 2013. $32.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-8214-2033-1).
Drought and the Human Story: Braving the Bull of Heaven. Heathcote, R. L. Burlington, VT: Ashgate 2013. $124.95 cloth (ISBN 978-1-4094-0501-6).
Ecologies of Urbanism in India: Metropolitan Civility and Sustainability. Rademacher, Anne M., and K. Sivaramakrishnan. New York, NY: Hong Kong University Press 2013. $25.00 paper (ISBN 978-988-8139-77-4).
Enabling Comprehensive Situational Awareness. Radke, Susan Lindell, Russ Johnson, Jeff Baranyi. Redlands, CA: ESRI Press 2013. $ paper (ISBN 978-1-58948-306-4).
Environmental Anthropology Engaging Ecotopia: Brioregionalism, Permaculture, and Ecovillages. Lockyer, Joshua, and James R. Veteto. New York, NY: Berghahn Books 2013. $110.00 cloth (ISBN 978-0-85745-879-7).
Finding Purple America: The South and the Future of American Cultural Studies. Smith, Jon. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press 2013. $24.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-8203-4526-0).
From Enron to Evo: Pipeline Politics, Global Environmentalism, and Indigenous Rights in Bolivia. Hindery, Derrick. Tuscon, AZ: University of Arizona Press 2013. $55 cloth (ISBN 978-0-8165-0237-0).
Geographies of the Super-Rich. Hay, Iain. Northhampton, MA: Edward Elgar 2013. $120 cloth (ISBN 978-0-85793-568-7).
Gramsci: Space, Nature, Politics. Ekers, Michael. New York, NY: Wiley-Blackwell 2012. $34.95 paper (ISBN 978-1-4443-3970-3).
Islands in the Rainforest: Landscape Management in Pre-Columbian Amazonia. Rostain, Stéphan. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press 2012. $89 cloth (ISBN 9781598746341).
Keys to the City: How Economics, Institutions, Social Interaction, and Politics Shape Development. Storper, Michael. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press 2013. $39.95 cloth (ISBN 978-0-691-14311-8).
The Lost Art of Finding Our Way. Huth, John Edward. Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press 2013. $35.00 cloth (ISBN 9780674072824).
Mapping Manhattan: A Love (and Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers. Cooper, Becky. New York, NY: Abrams Books 2013. $19.95 (ISBN 978-1-4197-0672-1).
Memories of Cities-Trips and Manifestoes. Charley, Jonathan. Burlington, VT: Ashgate 2013. $89.96 cloth (ISBN 978-1-4094-3137-4).
Merchants, Markets, and Exchange in the Pre-Columbian World. Hirth, Keneth G., and Joanne Pilsbury, eds. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2013. $70.00 cloth (ISBN 978-0-88402-386-9).
Mound Sites of the Ancient South: A Guide to the Mississippian Chiefdoms. Bowne, Eric E. Athens, GA: University of Georgia Press 2013. $29.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-8203-498-0).
Nature’s Man: Thomas Jefferson’s Philosophical Anthropology. Valsania, Maurizio. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press 2013. $35 cloth (ISBN 978-0-8139-3357-3).
New Geographies 5: The Mediterranean. Petrov, Antonio, ed. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 2013. $20.00 paper (ISBN 978-1-934510-33-9).
On Geopolitics: Space, Place, and International Relations. Starr, Harvey. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers 2013. $99.00 paper (ISBN 978-1-59451-876-8).
Recreating First Contact: Expeditions, Anthropology, and Popular Culture. Bell, Joshua, A., Alison K. Brown, and Robert J. Gordon, eds. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press 2013. $49.95 cloth (ISBN 978-1-93562-314-4).
Sacred Geographies of Ancient Amazonia: Historical Ecology of Social Complexity. Schaan, Denise P. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press 2011. $ cloth (ISBN 978-1-59874-505-4).
Social Justice in Diverse Suburbs: History, Politics, and Prospects. Niedt, Christopher. Philadelphia, PA: Temple Univeristy Press 2013. $29.95 paper (ISBN 978-1-4399-1050-4).
Take Back the Economy: An Ethical Guide for Transforming Our Communities. Gibson-Graham, J. K., Jenny Cameron, and Stephen Healy. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press 2013. $19.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-8166-7607-1).
The Ten-Thousand Year Fever: Rethinking Human and Wild-Primate Malaria. Cormier, Loretta A. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press 2011. $32.95 paper (ISBN 978-1-59874-483-5).
Tropical Whites: The Rise of the Tourist South in the Americas. Cocks, Catherine. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press 2013. $59.95 cloth (ISBN 978-0-8122-4499-1).
What’s Wrong with Climate Politics and How to Fix It. Harris, Paul G. Malden, MA: Polity Books 2013. $22.95 paper (ISBN 978-0-7456-5251-1).

Donald Johnson

Donald Lee Johnson, Professor of Geography at the University of Illinois from 1970-2003 and Emeritus Professor from 2003, passed on May 10, 2013. He was born March 8, 1934, in Long Beach, CA. Don received his Ph.D. in geography in 1972 from the University of Kansas. Diana Johnson was his life partner for 53 years, and wife for 49 of them.

Don’s life and career were an inspiration to many. Though retired, he never stopped his research and writing. He was one of those blessed individuals whose career was his hobby, and he never tired of his work.

Over the course of his career, Don taught 10 different courses in physical geography, soil-geomorphology and zoogeography at University of Illinois. He loved what he taught and his enthusiasm was infectious. Don was always entertaining and positive in the classroom, and his students truly loved him. Don took his enthusiasm for research into the classroom, taking his students on field trips every semester. He led 28 different undergraduates on independent study projects. His list of advisees and graduate committees includes 10 with senior theses, 23 with master’s theses, and 26 with doctoral dissertations. Many of his students have gone on to highly visible careers, but most importantly, they all continued to stay in touch with him. Don truly loved the relationships that he developed with students.

Perhaps the best testaments to Don’s teachings are reports given by his former students. His students left his classroom believing that soils–of all things–could truly be interesting, exciting and important, and that there is still much to learn about them. Never one to simply cite the party line, Don continually challenged the status quo and asked his students to do the same. Most importantly, he taught his students to question what they saw, and to always think outside of the box. He simply asked them to learn by looking. He was a keen observer of natural systems, often seeing things that others ignored. He called it his intellectual filter. There’s no doubt he viewed the world through different intellectual filters than most, and in so doing he saw things that other people looked at but didn’t quite see. Anyone who’s received an email from Don likely noticed a quote in his signature: “We don’t see things as they are, but as we are.”

Don’s list of published papers in refereed journals and books numbers over 80. And yet the numbers don’t do justice to his contribution to these disciplines, nor of the long-lasting impact that his work will have on future generations. Not once but twice, Don won the GK Gilbert Award for Excellence in Geomorphic Research from the AAG Geomorphology Specialty Group (GSG). His second Gilbert Award – won just this year with colleague and former student Jennifer Burnham for their GSA Special Paper on Mima Mounds – illustrates that Don never stopped doing what he loved: research and fieldwork. In 2005, he received the Distinguished Career Award from the GSG of the AAG. Don was a truly interdisciplinary scholar, as evidenced by the Rip Rapp Archaeological Geology Award that he had also received from the Geological Society of America. Don was equally at home with geographers, geologists, soil scientists, archaeologists, and biologists and published in journals of all these disciplines.

Almost single-handedly, Don published paper after paper, gave talk after talk, and had one-on-one conversations with people from all walks of life, all designed to highlight the importance of bioturbation and biomechanical processes on soil formation. His theoretical papers on soil genesis and evolution dramatically changed the way that the academic community views soil formation. This work has particularly assisted archeologists and tropical soil scientists by helping to explain the formation of stone lines, enigmatic features whose origins had been debated for decades. His work on mima mounds helped settle a centuries-long debate on the origins of these features. Don’s theoretical contributions continue to be truly revolutionary and of lasting import. His body of work will enjoy a position among the very best soil theoreticians in recent history. And of course, much of this work was done in full collaboration with his career-long field partner, Diana.

Don was an explorer, a field person, and an adventurer. Ever curious, Don and Diana traveled the world seeking answers to the question: How do Earth systems really work? Don was a thoughtful and generous man, always taking the time to be kind and gracious to everyone he met, forging many strong friendships. He was a true inspiration to everyone he met. He also loved working in the garden, playing racquetball and writing poems. Don’s family, friends, and colleagues will miss him dearly, but he lives on in our hearts and minds, and his passion for the soil lives on in what he has written.

Jennifer Burnham
Augustana College

Randy Schaetzl
Michigan State University

Selected Bibliography

Horwath Burnham, J.L., and D.L. Johnson, eds., 2012, Mima mounds: the case for polygenesis and bioturbation: Geological Society of America Special Paper 490: Boulder, Colorado, 211 p.

Johnson, D.L., Domier, J.E.J., and D.N. Johnson. 2005. Reflections on the nature of soil and its biomantle. Annals Assoc. Am. Geog. 95:11-31.

Johnson, D.L., J.E.J. Domier, and D.N. Johnson, 2005, Animating the biodynamics of soil thickness using process vector analysis — a dynamic denudation approach to soil formation: Geomorphology, v. 67, nos. 1-4, p. 23-46.

Johnson, D.L. 2002. Darwin would be proud: Bioturbation, dynamic denudation, and the power of theory in science. Geoarchaeology Special Issue: Formation Processes in Regional Perspective 17:7-40.

Johnson, D.L. 1994. Reassessment of early and modern soil horizon designation frameworks and associated pedogenetic processes: Are midlatitude A E B-C horizons equivalent to tropical M S W horizons? Soil Science (Trends in Agric. Sci.) 2:77-91.

Johnson, D.L. 1993. Dynamic denudation evolution of tropical, subtropical and temperate landscapes with three tiered soils; toward a general theory of landscape evolution. Quaternary International 17:67-78.

Johnson, D.L. and Balek, C.L. 1991. The genesis of Quaternary landscapes with stone-lines. Physical Geography 12:385-395.

Johnson, D.L. Keller, E.A. and Rockwell, T.K. 1990. Dynamic pedogenesis; new views on some key soil concepts, and a model for interpreting Quaternary soils. Quaternary Research 33:306-319.

Johnson, D.L. 1990.Biomantle evolution and the redistribution of earth materials and artifacts. Soil Science 149:84-102.

Johnson D.L. 1989. Subsurface stone lines, stone zones, artifact-manuport layers, and biomantles produced by bioturbation via pocket gophers (Thomomys bottae). American Antiquity 54:292-326.

Johnson, D.L., Watson-Stegner, D., Johnson, D.N. and Schaetzl, R.J. 1987. Proisotropic and proanisotropic processes of pedoturbation. Soil Science 143:278-292.

Johnson, D.L. and Watson-Stegner, D. 1987. Evolution model of pedogenesis. Soil Science 143:349-366.

Johnson, D.L., 1978. The origin of island mammoths and the Quaternary land bridge history of the northern Channel Islands, California. Quaternary Research 10: 204-225.

Johnson, D.L., 1977. The late Quaternary climate of coastal California: Evidence for an Ice Age refugium. Quaternary Research 8: 154-179.

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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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Allen Hellman

Allen David Hellman was born in Dollar Bay, Michigan on November 29, 1921 and after leading a very full life passed away in his sleep on December 29, 2011. A veteran of WWII, he served with the first group of rescue pilots in the Pacific theatre, and was promoted to Commander of Naval Reserves while teaching geography at the University of Southwest Louisiana in Lafayette. His formal education culminated with Ph.D. in Geography through the University of Michigan while married to the late June Iris Dement.

Moving to San Marcos to become the chairman of the Geography Department at Texas State University, then Southwest Texas State University, were wonderful years, as Dr. Hellman’s leadership and support through administration began to orchestrate the framework for where the department is today.

Allen’s other interests during his professional career extended to involvement with NASA’s moon mission projects, aerial and infrared photogrammetry, remote sensing, and aerial cartography in addition to petroleum exploration. During this time he met and married Majorie Wheatly, who proceeded him in death.

His best friend and the love of his life was the late Gloria Motovick who watched Allen swim competitively on the international level into his 70’s and enjoyed many travels together.

He is survived by his family: Donald and Debbie Hellman of California, John and Susan Hellman Franzetti and grandchildren Canyon, Dakota, Gianna Gortva and husband Ricky, and John and Renae Hellman and grandchildren Sarah and Zach of Manor, Texas.

The family expresses a heartfelt “thank you” to Texas State University, the First Presbyterian Church family and their “Sunshine Girls”, and to those showing such kindness during his later years.

Published by Legacy.com, and originally published by Austin American-Statesman on Jan. 8, 2012.

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Reds Wolman

M. Gordon “Reds” Wolman was a towering figure in 20th century fluvial geomorphology and an internationally-respected expert in river science, water resources management, and environmental education. He died on February 24, 2010, at the age of 85, in Baltimore.

Wolman was a member of the Johns Hopkins University faculty for more than 50 years, where he helped to establish the Department of Geography and Environmental Engineering. He received a bachelor’s degree in geology from Johns Hopkins in 1949. He later earned his doctorate at Harvard University, also in geology.

Wolman’s pioneering research fundamentally shaped our understanding of river forms and processes. In his PhD research at Harvard and subsequent work with Luna Leopold at the U.S. Geological Survey, Wolman played a central role in defining rivers in a modern, quantitative framework that still provides the standard against which new models and concepts are evaluated.

Wolman educated scores of students who continue to advance our scientific understanding of landscape morphology and hydrologic processes. He co-authored the classic Fluvial Processes in Geomorphology, a pioneering work in the study of landform development, with Luna Leopold and John Miller, a book that has been a standard in the field for 40 years and continues to be used widely.

Wolman’s career was defined by an extraordinary commitment to the application of research to river management and policy. Wolman demonstrated that relatively common floods do the most work in shaping river channels and, further, that there is remarkable consistency in the frequency of these “effective” floods. This result has guided interpretation of rivers and challenged river theory for the past 50 years, while also providing important input into modern channel restoration and design.

Wolman’s scholarly honors included election to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.

Reds Wolman (Necrology). 2009. AAG Newsletter 45(5): 15.

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Henry Michael

Henry N. Michael died February 19, 2006 at age ninety-two. Michael was widely known for his study of ancient pine tree growth rings which helped resolve problems of radiocarbon dating. He was Chair of the Temple University Geography Department from 1965 to 1973.

Henry Michael was born in Pittsburgh and earned his undergraduate and doctoral degrees from the University of Pennsylvania. He was named an assistant professor at Temple University in 1959, around the same time he began his tree-ring studies. Dr. Michael studied the tree rings of ancient bristlecone pine trees in the White Mountains of California. He drilled samples from bristlecone pine trees, which can live 4,500 years or more, and with colleagues Elizabeth Ralph of the University of Pennsylvania and C. Wesley Ferguson of the University of Arizona, subjected rings of known age to radiocarbon testing. The research, partly conducted at the University of California, San Diego, expanded the known record for radiocarbon testing by thousands of years, to create a reliable chronology for scientists. In the 1970’s and 80’s, Dr. Michael continued to hunt for even older samples of buried bristlecones and managed to match signature patterns from dead trees to living samples, eventually pushing back the limit of the radiocarbon record to 7,400 B.C. He successfully applied the dating method to timbers from Greece and to the cedars of Lebanon, and handed over his data to the Laboratory of Tree-Ring Research at the University of Arizona in the 1990’s.

While a professor of geography at Temple University, Dr. Michael studied Siberia and the cultures of the Eskimos and other Arctic people, and translated works from their Russian sources. He translated the legends of the Yupik Eskimos of Siberia and from 1959 to 1974, helped edit a series of books Anthropology of the North, published by the University of Toronto Press. During the cold war, Michael maintained ties with Russian anthropologists and translated and helped publish their articles. He also edited an account of an early exploration of Alaska and the Yukon, “Lieutenant Zagoskin’s Travels in Russian America, 1842-1844.”

Dr. Henry Michael was chairman of Temple’s geography department from 1965 to 1973, and retired there in 1980. He was also a founder of the Delaware Valley Geographical Association (DVGA) and for decades the host of its twice-yearly council meetings, providing geographers from a dozen local, non-PhD institutions, a professional network. In 19xx the DVGA presented Dr. Michael with its lifetime achievement award, and he continued an active role in that organization until very recently. And up until 2005 he continued his studies at Penn, working at its Museum Applied Science Center for Archaeology, where he was a senior fellow.

Henry Michael (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(5): 12.

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Virgil Baker

Virgil Baker died January 13, 2006 in Port Angeles, Washington at the age of ninety-one. He was born April 24, 1914 in North Platte, Nebraska.

Baker earned his bachelor’s (1936) and master’s (1940) in geography from the University of Nebraska, and a PhD in geography (1954) from the University of Utah. Though he taught at Bowling Green, Westminster, and Fresno State College, Baker spent the bulk of his career teaching at Arizona State University (1954-61 and 1966-78).

He was trained as a physical geographer.

Virgil Baker (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(4): 11.

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David Frost

David Frost, a Concordia University geography professor, died May 25.

Born in England in 1943, he graduated from McGill with BSc and MSc degrees in geography. In the 1960s McGill had major research interests in the Caribbean, and he worked in climatology projects on the islands and Guyana. He went to Birmingham University for his PhD to pursue his interests in the microclimatology of agricultural crops in the tropics.

After working at Queen Mary College, London, and the University of Regina, he joined Sir George Williams University in 1972 as an assistant professor, and within six months he was Chair of the Geography Department (1973-79).

He served in this capacity again from 1991-94, and as chair of the Geology Department from 1995-98. From 1984-85 he was Assistant Dean – Division II of the newly created Faculty of Arts and Science. He also sat on the Board of Governors (1989-92), and was President of Concordia University Faculty Association at the time of his death.

He had a keen sense of the discipline’s relevance to current issues, and his early interest in computer techniques was crucial in spearheading the Geography Department’s development of Geographical Information Systems (GIS).

Frost became an AAG member in 1973 and was also a long-time member of the New England-St Lawrence Valley Geographical Society, having served over the years as its President and Canadian representative.

David Frost (Necrology). 2005. AAG Newsletter 40(10): 54.

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