Susan E. Hanson (born March 31, 1943) 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 ...

. She is a Distinguished University Professor Emerita in the Graduate School of Geography at

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research uni ...

. Her research has focused on gender and work, travel patterns, and feminist scholarly approaches.

Education

Hanson studied as an undergraduate at

Middlebury College Middlebury College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800 by Congregationalism in the United States, Congregationalists, Middlebury w ...

between 1960 and 1964, subsequently working with the

Peace Corps The Peace Corps is an Independent agency of the U.S. government, independent agency and program of the United States government that trains and deploys volunteers to communities in partner countries around the world. It was established in Marc ...

in Kenya. She studied for a PhD in Geography at

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 ...

between 1967 and 1973, moving to

Uppsala Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019. Loc ...

, Sweden with her husband and two young children in 1970 to conduct research for her dissertation. In Uppsala, she found a data file that allowed her to sample the population and conduct the Uppsala Household Travel Survey.

Career

Hanson was awarded

tenure Tenure is a type of academic appointment that protects its holder from being fired or laid off except for cause, or under extraordinary circumstances such as financial exigency or program discontinuation. Academic tenure originated in the United ...

at the

University at Buffalo The State University of New York at Buffalo (commonly referred to as UB, University at Buffalo, and sometimes SUNY Buffalo) is a public university, public research university in Buffalo, New York, Buffalo and Amherst, New York, United States. ...

, where she worked in the geography and sociology departments between 1972 and 1980. She moved to Clark in 1981. She is a past president of the

American Association of Geographers The American Association of Geographers (AAG) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit learned society, scientific and educational society aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields. Its headquar ...

(then known as the Association of American Geographers) and has been the editor of four geography journals: ''

Urban Geography Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars, activists, and the public have ...

'', ''

Economic Geography Economic geography is the subfield of human geography that studies economic activity and factors affecting it. It can also be considered a subfield or method in economics. Economic geography takes a variety of approaches to many different topi ...

'', the ''

Annals of the Association of American Geographers The ''Annals of the American Association of Geographers''"AAG Newsletter January 2016."
'AAG ...

'', and ''

The Professional Geographer ''The Professional Geographer'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal publishing short articles on all aspects of geography. The journal is published by Taylor and Francis on behalf of the American Association of Geographers. According to t ...

''. Hanson has published extensively throughout her career, writing and editing books, and by 2010 had contributed more than 70 journal articles, and many chapters in books. Professor Emeritus at the University of Washington, Victoria Lawson has argued that Hanson's career "is an empowering example of a collage of woven-together life experiences, substantive research interests, feminist values and progressive professional practices". In 2010, Marianna Pavlovskaya wrote that Hanson "is one of the most accomplished academics in U.S. geography today".

Honors and awards

Hanson was awarded a

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

in 1989, was made a fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is a United States–based international nonprofit with the stated mission of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific responsib ...

in 1991, and in 1999 received the Van Cleef Memorial Medal from the

American Geographical Society The American Geographical Society (AGS) is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are United States, Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows f ...

, a medal conferred on scholars in the field of

urban geography Urban geography is the subdiscipline of geography that derives from a study of cities and urban processes. Urban geographers and urbanists examine various aspects of urban life and the built environment. Scholars, activists, and the public have ...

. In 2000, she became the first female geographer to be elected to both the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...

and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

. At the 2008 Association of American Geographers conference, three panels were dedicated to honouring her contribution to the discipline, and five of the papers presented were subsequently published as a themed section of an issue of '' Gender, Place & Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography''. She was awarded the 2015 Stanley Brunn Award for Creativity in Geography by the American Association of Geographers, which also awarded her Lifetime Achievement Honors in 2003. She served on the Transportation Research Board's (TRB) Executive Committee from 2019 - 2022, representing TRB as an ex officio member on the NRC Governing Board.

Selected publications

Books

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Articles

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References

External links

Clark University profile page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hanson, Susan American geographers Clark University faculty American women geographers 1943 births Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the American Association of Geographers Living people Urban geographers University at Buffalo faculty