Gary Peters

Gary Peters was born in Marysville, California on March 20, 1941. After serving as a radio operator in the U.S. Navy he attended Yuba Junior College and then transferred to Chico State University, where he majored in Geography. He then obtained his Master’s Degree and PhD in Geography from Pennsylvania State University. Following the completion of his studies, Gary taught in the geography department at California State University Long Beach before finishing his career at Chico State University. Throughout his career Gary published ten books—including Population Geography: Problems, Concepts, and Prospects and American Winescapes: The Cultural Landscapes of America’s Wine Country—and numerous academic articles.

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Thelma Glass

Civil rights pioneer and longtime geography professor Thelma Glass has died at the age of 96.

Glass was a professor of geography at Alabama State University, where she taught for over 40 years. She was the last surviving member of the Women’s Political Council, which helped organize the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955-56, a key event in the civil rights movement.

Glass graduated with honors from the Alabama State Teachers College in 1941. She later attended the Teachers College at Columbia University, where she earned an M.A. in 1947.

John Knight, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Alabama State University, was one of Glass’s students. “She had such a pleasing personality, you felt welcome. You felt a sense of warmth. And she always challenged you academically to be the very best,” Knight was quoted as saying.[i]

Glass was the focus of a chapter written by Jan Monk and Sunita George with Juanita George, “Teachers and Their Times: Thelma Glass and Juanita Gaston,” published in The South’s Role in the Making of AmericanGeography: Centennial of the AAG, 2004, edited by J.O. Wheeler and Stanley Brunn.

Glass’s main interests in geography included local and regional research in economic, cultural, and physical geography; excellence in education to prepare students for careers in teaching, government, and industry; and the introduction of geography into senior high schools in Alabama. She was well known on campus as a teacher-activist willing to put the values she espoused into action. Glass was deeply committed to the development and future success of her students and sought to introduce them to a broad-based education through the contextualization provided by geography education.

In 2011, Glass received ASU’s Black and Gold Standard Award, a non-annual award that is given to the school’s most notable alumni. She received many teaching awards throughout her career. An auditorium is named for Glass on the Alabama State University campus.

[i] Johnson, Scott. “Civil Rights Pioneer Glass Dies.” Montgomery Advertiser, July 25, 2012. www.montgomeryadvertiser.com. Accessed August 1, 2012.

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President's Column

Geography Outside-in

July 2, 2012

Eric Sheppard I am honored and delighted that you have given me the opportunity to act as your Association president for 2012-13. In these columns—a new experience for me—I seek to provoke us all to think critically and creatively about the relationship between Geography as a discipline and the multifaceted socionatural geographies that occupy and shape our planet. I approach these columns in the passionate belief that geography flourishes when its practitioners are willing to critically engage with one another. When we take others’ knowledge and beliefs as seriously as our own, consensus need not be our goal. As Helen Longino points out in her book The Fate of Knowledge, we can learn more through ongoing constructive disagreement, achieving excellence through diversity. Thus I invite you to respond to my columns throughout the year, in the spirit in which they are offered: esheppard [at] geog [dot] ucla [dot] edu.

We all simultaneously, paradoxically, occupy centers and margins. The Association of American Geographers occupies the institutional center of a discipline, plagued by its perceived marginalization in and beyond the academy. The academy is an acknowledged center of learning and knowledge production, but regarded with skepticism— marginalized—by the majority of those beyond its “Ivory Tower.” Ours is an Anglophone organization, whose discourses are shaped by powerfully positioned (too often, like myself, white and male) practitioners worried about how to improve livelihoods for the disadvantaged that they rarely encounter. Our Association’s members, without whom the AAG would cease to exist, wonder whether they have influence over its activities. What does it mean to approach such centers from their constituted margins, to turn Geography outside-in?

I begin with the Association. When I became Vice President a year ago, reflecting if nothing else my disciplinary name-recognition, I nevertheless felt like an outsider. As a member for almost forty years, attending most of the national meetings and reading the Newsletter fairly regularly, I came to realize that I had little idea about what goes on at AAG’s Meridian Place headquarters. Beyond organizing annual meetings (surprisingly, not a money-maker), I learned that the AAG has devoted enormous effort during the last decade to promoting the margins of the discipline: enhancing demographic diversity, improving graduate education, providing advice and support to fragile departments, reducing membership fees for those with low incomes (here and abroad), promoting geography in Latin America, Africa and Asia, and prioritizing human rights. The vast majority of us, I believe, would see these as important priorities, with the potential to help turn geography outside-in. No doubt, we each also would have opinions and criticisms of how the Association is going about these—as we would for such initiatives wherever we find them. Critical engagement between views would be informative for all concerned, but can only happen when information networks effectively connect margins into centers.

Fortunately, we live in an age where information can flow in less-hierarchical ways. Digital divides persist, and social networking has both progressive and regressive possibilities (whose geographical processes and implications remain ill-understood), but there remains significant potential. As Executive Director Doug Richardson highlights in his July-August column, the AAG is enhancing efforts to use information technologies inclusively (without disadvantaging those relying on paper). Members can subscribe to SmartBrief, and communicate through knowledge communities. National elections will now occur online, which can only enhance low participation rates. The AAG Newsletter will mutate into an online communications strategy, as will the Guide to Geography Programs, and book reviews will move from the journals to an online AAG Review of Books.

Yet these can only be the first steps— not yet realizing the georepresentational potential of Web 2.0. Without careful communications planning, there also is the danger of information overload. What else should be considered: A state-of-the-art AAG website? The Newsletter via Facebook? A presidential blog (or twitter)? A portal highlighting geographic research? A website publicizing timely geographic research to influence policy and opinion formation and attract attention to what we do? New open access publication venues? Less, not more? Share your ideas.

Turning Geography outside-in means turning our diversity (substantive, epistemological, political, socio-spatial) into a unifying strength. Enhancing geographic excellence through diversity requires attending to power-differences, however, to fully empowering the participation of marginalized positionalities in core conversations. As I stated when nominated, this must remain a high priority for the Association. In North America, building on Audrey Kobayashi’s important efforts, renewed anti-racism initiatives are vital, aimed particularly at including the expertise and voices of Native Americans, Blacks and Hispanics (recognizing how these intersect with other aspects of difference: class, gender, sexuality, location, etc.). Globally, it should entail incorporating the expertise of geographers and fellow-travelers living and working outside the well-resourced Anglophone halls of geographic influence. Everywhere, it should incorporate the experience of those whose lives we study. I will elaborate next month.

Eric Sheppard

DOI: 10.14433/2012.0001

Russell (Russ) B. Adams

Russell B. Adams, retired associate professor of geography, University of Minnesota, died on June 20, 2012, in Minneapolis, Minn., at the age of 86 following a long illness. In his final years he kept his mind busy by reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica from start to finish, and regularly reading Science magazine cover to cover.

Adams was born on January 1, 1926, in Enderlin, N.D. Following U.S. Army service (1945-47), he entered the University of Minnesota where he earned his B.B.A (1949), B.S. (1952), M.A. (1955), and Ph.D. (1969). He interspersed his academic pursuits with applied geography activity off campus that drew on and enhanced his precocious mathematical and statistical skills: high school teacher (1952-3); programmer-analyst with Remington-Rand Univac (1957-8); assistant director of the Twin Cities Area Transportation Study (TCATS) with the Minnesota Department of Highways (1958-61); working with John R. Borchert on the Urban Research Program of the Upper Midwest Economic Study (1961-63); and wide-ranging consulting activity on rural transportation, urban development, and computer security problems. Besides his professional work, Adams was a nationally ranked chess and cribbage expert.

He joined the faculty of the Department of Geography at the University of Minnesota in 1964, and in 1968 traveled extensively in the Soviet Union. Upon returning he assumed responsibility for the department’s courses on the USSR in addition to his regular courses in economic geography, advanced quantitative methods and transportation geography. He is survived by his three sons, Alexander, Byron, and Andrew, and their families.

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Robert G. Raskin

Robert G. Raskin died on March 2, 2012 at the age of 55.

Raskin was Research Scientist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, California from 1997 to 2006, and since 2006 had served as Supervisor of the Science Data Engineering and Archiving Group, Instrument Software and Science Data Systems, at JPL.

Raskin received a PhD in atmospheric science from the University of Michigan in 1992. He was the co-founder and first chair (2008-2009) and board director (2009-2011) of the AAG’s Cyberinfrastructure Specialty Group (CISG). Raskin made significant contributions to broadening the connections between cyberinfrastructure (CI) and geography over the past 20 years. He was an expert in geoinformatics, which combines theoretical knowledge of Geographical Science with the technical innovation of Computer Science, and in the field of data interoperability in the Earth and environmental sciences. He was lead developer of the POET (https://poet.jpl.nasa.gov/) user interface for online data access from the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC), a tool used for many years by PO.DAAC and various ESIP/MEASURES efforts. Raskin had also served as Vice President, Chair of the Products and Services Committee, Chair of the Information Technology and Interoperability Committee, Chair of the Constitution and Bylaws Committee, Chair of the GIS Cluster, and Organizer of the Interagency Forum on Data Preservation and Stewardship for the Earth Science Information Partner (ESIP) Federation.

Raskin was well known through the development of Semantic Web Terminologies for Earth and Environmental Science (SWEET), and his paper on knowledge representation in SWEET was acknowledged as the one of the top 10 most cited articles published between 2005 and 2010 by Computers & Geosciences (see https://sweet.jpl.nasa.gov/ontology/). Raskin organized and chaired over 20 sessions at AAG Annual Meetings covering a wide range of advanced CI topics, including geospatial semantics, virtual organization, spatial decision support systems and high performance computing. He co-edited special issues in two prestigious GIScience journals – International Journal of Geographic Information Science, and Computer, Environment and Urban Systems – capturing the state of research progress taking place in cyberinfrastructure and fostering significant discussion on future research.

In addition to his exceptional research achievements and tireless service, Raskin demonstrated a keen desire to inspire and guide young researchers to successful careers.

Robert G. Raskin (Necrology). 2012. AAG Newsletter 47(6): 28.

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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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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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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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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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Stephen J. Lavin

Stephen J. Lavin, Professor of Geography at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL), died May 3, 2011 at the age of 68 following a year-long battle with cancer.

Lavin was born February 1, 1943 in Buffalo, New York. Following service in the U.S. Navy, Lavin earned a B.S. in Geography at the University of Buffalo in 1969, an M.S. at Montana State University in 1971 and a Ph.D. from the University of Kansas in 1979. He taught four years at Dartmouth College before joining the Department of Geography at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1981. During his three decades at UNL he mentored more than 40 graduate students, served as Department Chair for five years, and was Chair of the Geography Graduate Committee for nearly 20 years.

A specialist in cartography, Lavin was well known for his research on map design, cartographic communication and computer cartography. His published work received a number of awards including, for example, the British Cartographic Society’s Best Article Award for 1988 for his research with Randall Cerveny on Unit-Vector Density Mapping, published in The Cartographic Journal.

During the last decade, Lavin devoted much of his time to working with his close colleague Clark Archer on production of atlases. These included The Atlas of American Politics: 1960-2000 and The Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections 1788-2004. The latter was a Best Reference List selection by the Library Journal and was chosen as the Best Single Volume Reference in Humanities and Social Sciences for 2006 by the Association of American Publishers, Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division. In total, Lavin designed and prepared well over 1,000 maps for these books.

Lavin’s two final projects, published this summer, serve as a fitting culmination to his career. In May, the University of Nebraska Press published his Atlas of the Great Plains, a volume containing over 300 maps within its 336 pages. Shortly thereafter, Rowman and Littlefield issued the Atlas of the 2008 Elections, on which Lavin served as chief cartographer and co-editor with Archer and others.

In honor of Lavin’s lifetime achievements in cartography, his students and colleagues will sponsor a special session at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the North American Cartographic Information Society.

Stephen J. Lavin (Necrology). 2011. AAG Newsletter 46(7): 20.2011

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