Marie Tharp

Marie Tharp, an oceanographic cartographer who drew pioneering maps of the world’s oceans and whose observations from the late 1950s through the 1970s helped scientists reconsider the geology of the seafloor, has died. She was eighty-six.

Tharp was born July 30, 1920, in Ypsilanti, Michigan, into a mapmaking family. Her father, William, was a surveyor who made soil classification maps for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Following advice to find something to do that she loved, Tharp earned a bachelor’s in English and music, with four minors, from Ohio University in 1943; a master’s in geology from the University of Michigan; and a degree in mathematics from the University of Tulsa while working as a geologist for an Oklahoma oil company.

She moved to New York in 1948 and joined Columbia’s geology department as a research assistant. Bruce Heezen, who would later be her collaborator on revolutionary sea floor maps, arrived two weeks later.

Mapping the vast, hidden seafloor was “a once-in-the-history-of-the-world opportunity” for anyone, but especially for a woman in the 1940s, Tharp recalled decades later. She had been recruited to study geology at the University of Michigan only because so many men were in the military during World War II. Because women weren’t allowed to sail on research ships in the 1940s and ’50s, Tharp remained behind, painstakingly plotting sonar readings of the ocean floor often sent back by Heezen, a marine geologist with whom she spent three decades in a personal and professional partnership.

Over five years, as she pieced together a puzzle of the North Atlantic Ocean, an enormous mountain range with a puzzling peculiarity took shape. What became known as the Mid-Atlantic Ridge showed signs of a crack down the middle that led Tharp to conclude that the seafloor was spreading, a radical notion at the time.

Her early observations and maps encouraged scientists to reexamine the theory of continental drift: the belief that the continents once had been one giant land mass that was slowly pulled apart through the movement of tectonic plates. Their work expanded to include the South Atlantic, Indian, Arctic, Antarctic, and Pacific oceans. It culminated with the map of the world’s oceans, published weeks after Heezen died of a heart attack on a research expedition in 1977.

After retiring, Tharp ran a map-distribution business in South Nyack, New York, and wrote several articles on Heezen’s life.

Marie Tharp (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(10): 23.

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Mingma Norbu Sherpa

Mingma Norbu Sherpa was born October 31, 1955, in Khunde village in the Sherpa homeland of Khumbu within what is now Sagarmatha (Chomolungma/Mt. Everest) National Park. Because he spoke several local languages and English, he was working as a translator for visiting trekkers and conservationists in his teens. He became a protégé of Sir Edmund Hillary who in 1953 became the first Westerner to scale Mount Everest. Mingma was in the first class of the first school established by Hillary around Everest. He continued on to graduate from Lincoln College (now a branch of New Zealand’s University of Canterbury), in 1980. He earned a master’s degree in natural resources management in 1985 from the University of Manitoba. As a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Michigan in 1987, he created a plan for environmental education in Nepal. Mingma, along with Chandra Gurung, was central to the development of the conservation area concept in Nepal. In 1985 a team including Mingma and Chandra proposed and planned the establishment of Annapurna Conservation Area where Mingma later served as the first director. Mingma and Chandra felt that the conservation area approach would not reach its full potential until local residents assumed full responsibility for conservation area management as they now have in Kanchenjunga Conservation Area. Mingma hoped that this would spread to all of Nepal’s national parks including Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) National Park. He became a ranger there in 1980 and within six months became the park’s first Sherpa warden. Mingma joined the WWF in 1989 to direct programs in Nepal, Bhutan, and the Terai Arc region of Nepal and India. Among other projects, he led efforts to protect endangered wildlife, including the Bengal tiger and the greater one-horned rhinoceros.

Mingma Norbu Sherpa (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(10): 6.

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Fred Broome

Fred Broome, born February 18, 1940, a longtime employee of the Geography Division at the U.S. Census Bureau, passed away quietly from cancer on December 2, 2006, near his home in Augusta, West Virginia. Broome was the U.S. government’s first employee with the title of “Computer Mapping Specialist” and was relied upon for his expertise in geospatial techniques. He played key roles in developing the address coding guidelines of the 1960s, the GBF/DIME program of the 1970s, assisted in creating TIGER in the 1980s, helped develop the Bureau’s automated cartographic system, formulated the concept of map image metafile (MIM) language, and played a substantial role in the development of the GPS and imagery update techniques currently in use.

Broome served the Census Bureau in several roles throughout his tenure, including as Chief, Mapping Operations Branch; Chief, Geospatial Research and Standards Staff; and lastly as Chief, National Geographics Partnership Team, Geography Division. He retired from the Census Bureau in 2003 after retiring from the U.S. Army Reserves as a lieutenant colonel in 2000.

Broome also played a key role on the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) where he was devoted to building the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) and where he also served as Chair of the Subcommittee on Cultural and Demographic Data. Broome provided technical support to the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health for an important study of breast cancer on Long Island. Broome taught GIS for the Center for Disease Control’s Maternal and Child Health conferences and also served as an adjunct faculty member for the Department of Geography at the University of Maryland and for George Mason University, where he taught automated cartography and GIS.

Frederick Roland Broome (Necrology). 2007. AAG Newsletter 42(2): 20.

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Benjamin Moulton

Benjamin Moulton, longtime chair of the Department of Geography and Geology at Indiana State University died September 30, 2006 at age eighty-nine in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Professor Moulton graduated from Clark University in 1939, earned a master’s from Butler University in 1941 and a second master’s from Indiana University in 1945. He received a PhD from Indiana University in 1950. Before joining the faculty at Indiana State University in 1961, he taught at Butler University, University of Florida, Florida State University, Western Reserve University, Flint Community College, and Eastern Michigan University. He served as professor and chairman of the Department of Geography and Geology from 1964 to 1983. He founded the master’s programs in geography and geology and the PhD program in geography at Indiana State University. The graduate programs were founded with a focus on satellite remote sensing and computer spatial analysis and set the new graduate program apart from others. When he retired in 1983, thirty-five graduate students were in residence.

Professor Moulton published seventeen articles, reviewed more than forty books, taught graduate courses in geography at six colleges and universities, directed twelve field courses to Alaska and the northwestern United States, led annual field trips throughout Indiana, served on more than twenty-five Indiana State University committees, and directed in-service institutes for teachers of earth science. He worked with fourteen science fairs in Michigan and Indiana and was a judge in ten others. He was honored by the National Council for Geographic Education for his outstanding contributions to undergraduate and graduate education in geography and for his excellence in mentoring students. Upon his retirement, the Benjamin Moulton Award was established at Indiana State University for students demonstrating excellence in graduate academic prowess. Moulton remained an active participant in departmental functions throughout his emeritus years.

Benjamin Moulton (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(11): 22.

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Chandra Prasad Gurung

Chandra Gurung was born in the mountain village of Siklesh, the largest Gurung village in what is now Annapurna Conservation Area. Gurung—the general name for the indigenous people of the region as well as his surname—earned a master’s degree in rural development planning from the Asian Institute of Technology in Thailand and a PhD in medical geography from the University of Hawaii in 1988. He specialized in eco-tourism, sustainable development, integrated conservation and development, and protected area management.

Chandra was a pioneer in designing and implementing the first community-based integrated conservation and development project, the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP). He worked together with Mingma Sherpa on the scouting mission and planning for ACAP and later worked as its second director. This project is regarded worldwide as a success in integrating conservation with sustainable rural development and eco-tourism. Chandra, along with his colleagues, was a pioneer in the proposal and implementation of the Terai Arc Landscape, an ambitious conservation project in the southern plains of Nepal. He also served as member secretary of the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation and received awards from the President of Finland, His Majesty Late King Birendra of Nepal, and His Royal Highness Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands. Since July 1999, Chandra served as a country representative for Nepal for the WWF. He was also a visiting professor at the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Chandra Prasad Gurung (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(10): 6.

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Harka Gurung

Harka Gurung was born in 1939 in Lamjung, Central Nepal, and went to military school in India. He earned BA honors from Patna College, Patna, India, and later earned a post-graduate diploma (1961) and PhD (1965) from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Harka’s main areas of professional interest included demography, development planning, environment, geography, sociology, and tourism. He was a prominent conservation expert and Nepal’s foremost authority on the Himalaya, making significant contributions to the promotion of mountain tourism and the conservation of wildlife and environment. Harka lead the government committee formed to provide names to mountain peaks in the late 1970s. He was also the chief advisor to the Nepal Maintaining Association. Harka served the government of Nepal at different times as member and vice chairman of the National Planning Commission (1968-75), minister of state for education (1975-78), and minister of state for tourism, industry and commerce, public works and transport. He also worked in academia as demonstrator at the University of Edinburgh, research fellow at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, lecturer at Tribhuvan University, and visiting fellow at the Population Institute/East-West Center. After leaving the government, he provided consulting services to numerous international organizations. Harka was director of the Asia Pacific Development Center, an inter-governmental think-tank (1993-97) and also served on the board of Lumbini Development Trust, International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development and International Institute of Educational Planning. Since 1991, Harka was associated with the research and consulting firm New ERA. Harka disagreed with the class and caste classification in Nepal and one religion/ one language policies. His work added to the debate over exclusion felt by many communities in Nepal. Harka authored numerous books including: Pokhara Valley: A Geographical Survey; Vignettes of Nepal and Annapurna to Dhaulagiri; A Decade of Mountaineering in Nepal Himalaya, 1950-1960; Janajati Serophero; From Exclusion to Inclusion: Socio-Political Agenda for Nepal; Faces of Nepal; Nature and Culture: Random Reflections; and Nepali Nationalism. His articles mainly focused on geography, nationalism, building of nation, and issues of Janajati indigenous people.

Harka Gurung (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(10): 6.

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Christopher Exline

Christopher H. Exline, longtime Chair of the Department of Geography at the University of Nevada, died on April 11, 2006.

Exline, born on July 23, 1947, earned an associate’s in 1969 from College of Marin, a bachelor’s in 1971 from Sonoma State, a master’s in 1974 from San Francisco State University, and a doctorate in 1978 from the University of California, Berkeley.

Exline taught at College of Marin from 1973-77 and at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs from 1977-81 before coming to the University of Nevada in 1981. Exline served as Chair of the Geography Department there from 1981-97.

Over the years, Exline received many awards for his teaching and commitment to the university and community including the F. Donald Tibbitts Distinguished Teacher Award (1988), the Distinguished Alumni Award Sonoma State University Alumni Association (1991), the American Planning Association Nevada Chapter Meritorious Service Award (1995), the City of Sparks and Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency Meritorious Service Award (1995), and the Board of Regents Undergraduate Advisor Award (2000).

He also served on the City of Sparks Planning Commission (1987-95), the Truckee Meadows Regional Planning Agency (1989-95), and was involved in the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers for many years

Exline joined the AAG in 1971 and was a member until his death.

Christopher Exline (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(6): 16.

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William Withington

Longtime AAG member William A. Withington died January 5, 2006 at the age of eighty-one. He was born in Hawaii on February 17, 1924.

Withington obtained his PhD from Northwestern University in 1955. He accepted a faculty position at the University of Kentucky in 1955 where he spent thirty-four years, retiring in 1989. Withington’s research and teaching interests centered on urban and regional development in Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia. Upon his retirement Bill and his wife Anne established the Withington Endowment in the Department of Geography at the University of Kentucky, the proceeds of which are utilized to underwrite graduate student travel to professional meetings and to conduct field research, especially in foreign locales.

Withington joined the Association of American Geographers in 1947.

William A. Withington (Necrology). 2007. AAG Newsletter 42(1): 27.

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Sean Webster

Former geography professor at the University of North Texas (UNT) and retired Navy officer Sean Webster died on November 6, 2005. He was forty-six.

Webster was born in California in 1959. He moved to Texas before joining the Navy and serving as an electrician. He retired as a Lieutenant Commander. Webster earned an associates degree from Santa Ana College in 1987, a bachelor’s from University of New Mexico in 1989, and completed studies at Florida Institute of Technology in 1995. Webster came to UNT as a student in the fall of 1999 and graduated in the summer of 2004 with a master’s degree in applied geography. While completing his master’s degree, Webster served as a teaching assistant. After graduation, he became an adjunct professor at UNT, teaching courses in earth science, physical geology and culture, and environmental and society. Shortly before his death, he had accepted a full-time faculty position at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.

Sean Webster (Necrology). 2006. AAG Newsletter 41(6): 16.

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James Murry Hunter

James Murry Hunter, eighty-three, a longtime professor of geography at Georgetown University, died October 15 at his home in Rockville, Maryland of complications from a stroke.

Hunter joined the Georgetown faculty in 1946 and taught political geography until he retired in 1986. He was the author of Perspective on Ratzel’s Political Geography, published in 1983, and he co-wrote several other books on geography with other professors. He also was a visiting professor at Boston University and wrote numerous articles for professional journals.

Born in Homer City, Pennsylvania, Hunter graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He earned a master’s degree in geography from the University of Pittsburgh and a doctorate in geography from the University of Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic.

During World War II, he served in the Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Belvoir.

He was a member of the American Association of Geographers and the American Association of University Professors.

James Murry Hunter (Necrology). 2005. AAG Newsletter 40(11): 17.

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