Edward Louis Ullman (1912 – 1976), son of classical scholar
Berthold Ullman, was trained as a geographer at
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
where he was influenced by the urban and economic emphasis in social science. He was an urban geographer, transportation researcher and regional development specialist and became the champion of applied geography. His study and dissertation on the economic aspects of Mobile, Ullman began a career of transit studies. He was the
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was the first intelligence agency of the United States, formed during World War II. The OSS was formed as an agency of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) to coordinate espionage activities behind enemy lines ...
transportation specialist in World War II.
After the war he served as a lieutenant in the United States Navy Reserve and was an economist for the
United States Maritime Commission. He also did research for the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon and the State Department. In 1951 he began his academic work at the
Department of Geography, University of Washington and was a Fulbright research professor at the
Sapienza University of Rome
The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...
in 1956-1957. He did academic work in Germany and Israel. The
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
The United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is an independent agency of the United States government tasked with protecting public health and safety related to nuclear energy. Established by the Energy Reorganization Act of 1974, the ...
and
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...
utilized his services in their formative years.
[Who's Who is America. 1976-1977. v. 2, p 3197.]
He proposed that
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
was an interaction based on three phenomena: ''
complementarity'', ''
intervening opportunities'', and ''
transferability of commodities''.
The level of interaction can be measured by the ''Gravity model'' of trade:
Where:
*I: Level of interaction between i,j. alternatively, quantity of trade between i,j.
*P
i = population of i
*d
i,j = distance separating i,j
*β = impedance factor
See also
* ''
Geographers on Film''
Notes
External links
University of Washington
1912 births
1976 deaths
University of Washington faculty
Scientists from Chicago
Urban geographers
Regional scientists
20th-century American geographers
University of Chicago alumni
{{Geographer-stub