James Richard Akerman (born October 1956) is an American

geographer A geographer is a physical scientist, social scientist or humanist whose area of study is geography, the study of Earth's natural environment and human society, including how society and nature interacts. The Greek prefix "geo" means "earth" a ...

and former director of the Newberry Library's Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography. He is known for his work on the

history of cartography Maps have been one of the most important human inventions, allowing humans to explain and navigate their way. When and how the earliest maps were made is unclear, but maps of local terrain are believed to have been independently invented by man ...

. Akerman obtained his B.A.in Sociology from

Denison University Denison University is a Private university, private liberal arts college in Granville, Ohio, United States. One of the earliest colleges established in the former Northwest Territory, Denison University was founded in 1831. It was first called ...

in 1978, his M.A. in Geography from the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

in 1981 and his Ph.D. also in Geography from

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsyl ...

in 1991. In 1985 Akerman started at the Newberry Library as acting and assistant curator of maps. In 1988 he became Assistant Director and in 1995 Acting Director of the Hermon Dunlap Smith Center for the History of Cartography. He also served as Curator of Maps from 2011 until his retirement in 2022. Meet Our Staff: Jim Akerman
at newberry.org. Accessed 08-14-2023.

Selected publications

* Akerman, James R., and Karrow, Robert W., eds., ''Maps: Finding Our Place in the World'', Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press. 2007. * Akerman, James R., ed. ''The imperial map: cartography and the mastery of empire''. Vol. 15. University of Chicago Press, 2009. * Akerman, James R., ed. ''Decolonizing the Map: Cartography from Colony to Nation''. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017.

References

External links

Material Maps in the Digital Age
The Newberry Library faculty 2019 {{DEFAULTSORT:Akerman, James Richard 1956 births Living people 21st-century American geographers Data and information visualization experts Denison University alumni University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni Penn State College of Earth and Mineral Sciences alumni