UD geographer receives lifetime achievement award

Contact: Barbara Garrison, (302) 831-1964, [email protected]

Embargoed: Not for Releases Until 1:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, March 28, 1998

University of Delaware geographer John R. Mather received the Association of American Geographers (AAG) Lifetime Career Honor at the group's 94th annual meeting in Boston on March 28.

The lifetime achievement award is the highest honor the 7,200-member organization can bestow upon a geographer. AAG is a scientific and educational society founded in 1904 whose members share interests in the theory, methods and practice of geography.

AAG Executive Director Ronald Abler said the award is "designed to recognize a member who has provided exemplary service to the profession and the association over his or her entire career. Dr. Mather's contributions in research, climatology and instruction are known throughout the profession and are highly regarded."

Mather received his doctoral degree from the Johns Hopkins University in 1951. He joined the University of Delaware faculty in 1963, serving as chairperson of the geography department from 1965-1989. He was vice president and president of the AAG from 1990-92 and is a member of the council and secretary of the American Geographical Society.

He is a recipient of UD's Francis Alison Award for distinguished members of the faculty, as well as a 1989 excellence-in-teaching award. Mather, who created UD's climatology program shortly after joining the faculty, said he considers the award a "great honor" that suggests "you've achieved something in your field."

He attributed this recognition by his colleagues, in part, to the strength of the national and international reputation that UD's climatology program enjoys.

Norman J.W. Thrower, professor of geography at the University of California at Los Angeles, also received the Lifetime Career Honor at the AAG meeting.

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