Harm J. de Blij (see

IJ (digraph) IJ (lowercase ij; ; also encountered as Unicode compatibility characters Ĳ and ĳ) is a Digraph (orthography), digraph of the letters ''i'' and ''j''. Occurring in the Dutch language, it is sometimes considered a Ligature (writing), ligature, o ...

; closest pronunciation: "duh blay") (October 9, 1935 – March 25, 2014) was a Dutch-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 ...

. He was a geography editor on ABC's ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...

'' and an editor of ''

National Geographic ''National Geographic'' (formerly ''The National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as ''Nat Geo'') is an American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. The magazine was founded in 1888 as a scholarly journal, nine ...

'' magazine and the author of several books, including ''Why Geography Matters''.

Education and career

De Blij was born in

Schiedam Schiedam () is a large town and municipality in the west of the Netherlands. It is located in the Rotterdam–The Hague metropolitan area, west of the city Rotterdam, east of the town Vlaardingen and south of the city Delft. In the south, Schi ...

, the Netherlands, and received his early schooling in Europe. He received his B.Sc. from the

University of the Witwatersrand The University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (), commonly known as Wits University or Wits, is a multi-campus Public university, public research university situated in the northern areas of central Johannesburg, South Africa. The universit ...

in South Africa in 1955, and his M.A. in 1957 and Ph.D. in 1959 in the United States from

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

. He published more than 30 books and over 100 articles and has received five honorary degrees. Several of his books have been translated into foreign languages. He was the editor of Oxford's ''Atlas of North America''. A native of the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, he was a professor of geography and

viticulture Viticulture (, "vine-growing"), viniculture (, "wine-growing"), or winegrowing is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine ...

Michigan State University Michigan State University (Michigan State or MSU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan, United States. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State o ...

and the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

and a visiting professor at the

Colorado School of Mines The Colorado School of Mines (Mines) is a public research university in Golden, Colorado, United States. Founded in 1874, the school offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in engineering, science, and mathematics, with a focus on ener ...

. Dr. de Blij was a Distinguished Professor of Geography at Michigan State University. He held the George Landegger Chair in Georgetown University's school of Foreign Service and the John Deaver Drinko chair of geography at Marshall University; he also taught at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Miami.

Recognitions

Ellen Churchill Semple Ellen Churchill Semple (January 8, 1863 – May 8, 1932) was an American geographer and the first female president of the Association of American Geographers. She contributed significantly to the early development of the discipline of geography ...

award,

Department of Geography, University of Kentucky The Department of Geography in the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Kentucky offers undergraduate degrees and graduate degrees and courses in physical and human geography. The department has an international reputation for the stu ...

, 1989Ellen Churchill Semple Day
(accessed 30 June 2015)

Bibliography

* ''Mombasa: An African City'', Northwestern University Press, 1968. * ''Systematic Political Geography'', John Wiley & Sons, 1973 * ''Essentials of Geography: Regions and Concepts'', John Wiley & Sons, 1974. * ''Geography of Viticulture'', Miami Geographical Society, 1981. * ''Harm De Blij's Geography Book: A Leading Geographer's Fresh Look at Our Changing World'', John Wiley & Sons, 1995. * ''Why Geography Matters: Three Challenges Facing America'', Oxford Univ. Press, 2005. * ''Wartime Encounter'', Hudson River Enterprises, 2006. * ''Human Geography: People, Place, and Culture'', John Wiley and Sons, Inc. * ''Realms, Regions and Concepts: With College Atlas of the World'', John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2007. * ''The Power of Place: Geography, Destiny, and Globalization's Rough Landscape'', Oxford Univ. Press, 2008. * ''Why Geography Matters: More than Ever'', Oxford Univ. Press, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blij, Harm 1935 births 2014 deaths American geographers Dutch geographers Dutch emigrants to the United States Colorado School of Mines faculty Michigan State University faculty Northwestern University alumni People from Schiedam University of Miami faculty University of the Witwatersrand alumni