Geography is the science of space and place on Earth's surface. Its subject matter is the physical and human phenomena that make up the world's environments and places. Geographers describe the changing patterns of places in words, maps and geo-graphics [as well as statistically and analytically], explain how these patterns come to be, and unravel their meaning. Geography's continuing quest is to understand the physical and cultural features of places and their natural settings on the surface of Earth (Geography for Life: National Geography Standards, 1994).

Geography and Climatology at the University of Delaware

The Geography Department at Delaware became an independent department in 1966.  For many years before that, geography was taught on campus by a few faculty that were housed in related departments--Geology at first, and later with Sociology and Anthropology.  When the department was created, Prof. John R. Mather had been teaching part-time at Delaware for a few years, having already had a distinguished research career with the C. W. Thornthwaite & Associates Laboratory in New Jersey.  He became the first Chair of the Geography Department, a role he maintained for 24 years, and his international reputation within climatology would later serve as a catalyst for building the department's strength around that specialty.

The Department began with four faculty and an undergraduate B.A. program.  In 1971, a master's degree program was initiated, from which the first degree was granted in 1977.  In the late 1970s the focus of the department began to move more seriously towards climatology, eventually leading to the creation of a Ph.D. program in Climatology, which granted its first degree in 1986.  The doctoral program has granted a total of 36 Ph.D. degrees, and over two-thirds of them have found permanent jobs in academia (over half in graduate-degree-granting institutions), with the others primarily working in industry or research/consulting firms.

In 1989, Prof. Cort J. Willmott became Chair.  Our undergraduate programs became much larger in the early 1990s with the creation of the interdisciplinary B.S. program in Environmental Science, which produced its first graduates in 1993.  In the year 2000, Prof. Daniel J. Leathers became the third Chair of the Geography Department. During his service, the Department has added two new faculty to further our strength in climatology and enhance our growing focus in land surface processes (particularly cryospheric studies). In 2001, a premeir GIS teaching facility was established with support from the College of Arts and Sciences. Prof. Brian Hanson has stepped in as Interim Chair for the current academic year as we look forward to continued growth and excellence.

Today, the Geography Department has a dozen full-time faculty and about 35 graduate students currently in residence.  Our undergraduate programs in  Environmental Science, Geography, and Geography Education continue to thrive, with special growth in the area of GIS.  In addition to our degree programs, the department has many research and service programs, funded by various Federal, Delaware, United Nations, and private nonprofit organizations.  We invite you to look around this site and see the range of things going on in the Geography Department at Delaware.