Judy Getis

Judy Getis, a well-known author and advocate for geography education, has died. She was born Judith Miller Marckwardt in Ann Arbor, June 29, 1938. She attended University High School in Ann Arbor, Radcliffe College, and the University of Michigan. Getis became interested in cartographic history at Michigan, and pursued graduate education in geography at the University of Washington and at Michigan State University, where she received a Master’s degree. In Seattle, she met her future husband, the geographer Arthur Getis. After two years in East Lansing, Michigan, where she pursued her studies in geography, Judy and Art moved to New Jersey where Art taught at Rutgers and Judy worked at the Educational Testing Service in Princeton.

In New Jersey, Judy was co-investigator of the very first unit of the ground-breaking National Science Foundation educational program called the High School Geography Project, which gained national acclaim for innovation and comprehensiveness. She teamed with her husband to write a college textbook, An Introduction to Geography, now in its 13th edition, which became the leading college-level textbook for introductory geography in the United States. Judy Getis wrote, co-authored, or edited a number of books, including Human Geography: Culture and Environment; Environments, People and Inequalities; The United States and Canada; and You Can Make a Difference. In addition, she co-authored several papers on urban geography Getis taught cartography briefly at Rutgers, and in UCLA’s summer program.

Judy Getis (Necrology). 2010. AAG Newsletter 45(9): 22.