About the Department

History of the Department of Geography

By Gregory Knapp

Geography courses were introduced to The University of Texas by Lindley Miller Keasbey in 1905. Keasbey inspired Walter Prescott Webb to write his masterpiece of historical geography and environmental history, The Great Plains, although subsequently he critiqued the book's environmental determinism. William J. Reilly developed his Law of Retail Gravitation while at Texas in the 1920s; his discovery was an important precursor of the "quantitative revolution" in geography and planning.

Geography courses were offered in the Department of Geological Sciences and the School of Business Administration (by Stanley Arbingast, for example) prior to the formation of the Department of Geography in Fall 1949. The original faculty of the Department included Professors Donald D. Brand (1905-1984), Dan Stanislawski (1903-1997 ), and George W. Hoffman (1914-1990), all of whom led the Department for many years. The Department was the first in Texas, and the second in the Southwest, to award doctoral degrees.

From the beginning, the Department has supported regional and international studies, with special emphases on Texas and the Southwest, Latin America, the Mediterranean World and Middle East, and Northern and Eastern Europe.

The Department has also provided training in the topical areas of geography. From the beginning, these included cultural geography, physical geography (earth sciences), and mathematical geography (cartography). By 1960, conservation (environmental resource management) had become an explicit topical focus which would be further strengthened over the years. By 1970, urban and regional analysis became an area of departmental concern. In more recent years, remote sensing, computer cartography, and geographic information systems have been developed as additional areas of teaching and research.

The Department's faculty has had an outstanding record of research and publication; indeed, a recent survey in "The Professional Geographer" found the department's book publication productivity to be the highest in the nation. Faculty have made contributions to fundamental research in many areas, authored numerous textbooks of national importance, and edited influential overviews of disciplinary and interdisciplinary topics.

Over 1000 geography students have earned their degrees at the University, including over 70 doctoral students and 220 master's students. 70% of the PhD alumni and many of the master's alumni found positions in higher education, and include a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a former president of the Association of American Geographers. The undergraduate program has graduated many successful people who have pursued careers in law, business, medicine, government, education, the military, and journalism. Famous alumni include Paul Goodloe, broadcast meteorologist for the Weather Channel.

In its early years, the Department was located in what is now the Dorothy Gebauer Building. The Department moved to Waggener Hall in 1962. In 1974, Geography moved to its present location in the beautiful limestone and Spanish tile Geography Building (formerly the Journalism Building). Built in 1952, the building is shaded by magnolia and live oak trees, and is esthetically compatible with other nearby structures in the Spanish tradition, including Mary E. Gearing Hall (1933), Biological Laboratories (1925), the Student Union (1933), Hogg Memorial Auditorium (1933), and Andrews Dormitory (1936). The Battle Oaks picnic area with its live oak trees and squirrels is nearby, as is the biology pond and the historic Littlefield Home and Carriage House (1894). This corner of campus, with its human scale, natural beauty, and historic buildings, provides an excellent setting for the study of the earth as the human home.

Today the Department has 17 full-time faculty members, many affiliated faculty, research fellows, and part-time faculty, 230 undergraduate majors, and 45 graduate students. The graduate program was ranked 14th in the nation in the National Research Council's Research-Doctorate Programs in the United States, the highest ranked program in the South and Southwest. The undergraduate program was rated one of the top three in the Southwest by Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges (2000).

Chairs: Donald D. Brand (1949-1960), Lorrin G. Kennamer (1960-1967), Robert C. Mayfield (1967-1971), C. Shane Davies (acting chair, 1971-1972), Robert K. Holz (1972-1978), George W. Hoffman (1978-1982), Paul W. English (1982-1992), William E. Doolittle (1992-1996), Gregory W. Knapp (1996-2004), William Doolittle (2004-present).

Department Managers: Dee Dee Barton 2005-present, Karen Eikner 2004-2005, Maria Acosta 2001-2004, Sakena Sounny-Slitine 1997-2001, Ruth Schwab 1996-1997, Jacqueline Erengil, 1992-1996; Beverly Beaty-Benadom to 1992.

Graduate Coordinators: Tan Thai 2005-2007, Dee Dee Barton 2001-2005, Maria Acosta 2000-2001, Mechelle Powell 1999-2000; Greg Osburn 1997-2006, Stephanie Bush 1996-1997; Ruth Schwab 1994-1996; Valerie Billingsley, 1993-1994; Judy White 1992-1993; Carol Vernon to 1992.

Undergraduate Advisors: Calina Coakwell Summer 2001-present, Sylvia Edwards-Khan Fall 1999-Spring 2001; Emily (Johnston) Summer/Spring 1999; Amanda Weaver Fall 1998; Melissa Mayo 1997-1998 (Staff position established September 1998, replacing faculty position); Sonia Arbona 1996-1997

Bibliography:

"Geography at the University of Texas at Austin: A Departmental History," Gregory Knapp, Southwestern Geographer 2:95-123 (1998).