Peter Meusburger

Peter Meusburger, a professor of human geography at the University of Heidelberg, died on December 18, 2017. He was 75 years old.

Peter was born on March 14, 1942 in Lustenau, Austria and earned his doctorate in geography from the University of Innsbruck.

Meusburger’s research interests were on the geographies of education and skills, labor market research, and regional women’s research. As a scientific advisor to the Vorarlberg state government, Peter studied the emigration of highly qualified people from Vorarlberg. He also examined the state’s educational history.

Peter was appointed to the Ruprecht-Karls-University Heidelberg in 1983, serving as chair in economic and social geography at the Institute of Geography until he retired in 2007. He was named the university’s first Distinguished Senior Professor after his retirement. Meusburger held many positions at the University of Heidelberg, including Dean of the Faculty of Geosciences in 1987-1988 and 1988-1989, Vice-President in 1991-1992 and 1992-1993, and Member of the Senate from 1999 to 2006, as well as Senate spokesman and curator of the University of Heidelberg. He has been a visiting professor at various universities in Japan, China and Brazil.

Between 2001 and 2003, Peter served as president of the German Geography Society. His awards and honors include the 1968 Johann Hampel Prize of the Austrian Geographical Society, 2006 Franz von Hauer Medal of the Austrian Geographical Society, and 2010 Vorarlberg Science Award. In 2010, Peter was named Honorary Doctor of Eötvös Loránd University and Honorary Member of the Hungarian Geographical Society. That same year, Peter was awarded the 2010 AAG Presidential Achievement Award from the American Association of Geographers.