The California Geographical
Society: A Retrospective Look
Jenny Zorn
California State University San Bernardino
THE CALIFORNIA GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY (CGS) is a vibr= ant organization
of geographers from across the state. The strength = of the organization has endured over fifty-eight years and currently the CGS is
enjoying one of its strongest eras. There are other= state geographical societies but none as active and respected as the CGS, which i= s
widely viewed as the premier state geographical soc= iety. The CGS
hosts a large annual conference; publishes a high-q= uality academic
journal and a professional quality newsletter; awar= ds more than
$2,000 annually in student scholarships and prizes, including an
endowed student award; hosts a listserve; and has a diverse membership that includes students, K–12 teachers, community college
and university faculty, and applied geographers.
It hasn’t always been this way for the CGS. T= he organization has
had periods of instability and uncertainty as well = as periods of prosperity. It has had times of visionary leadership as well as times where
it has drifted. I write this article from my perspe= ctive as a ten-year
member and immediate past president. I came to the = game relatively late, having attended my first meeting in 1994 (five years
after I first arrived in California) at Cal Poly Po= mona, at the urging
of Joe Beaton. I was immediately hooked, and have n= ot missed a
meeting since. I soon became involved in editorial = work for the
CGS Bulletin, knowing that I wanted to associate wi= th, learn from,
and grow with this group.
Many members have been active with the CGS far long= er than I
and know much more than I do about the organization’s past. But
despite my relatively short history, I have learned= a great deal about
the organization through a review of the presidenti= al archives and
conversations with some of the “old timers.&#= 8221; They have provided
the insights and perspectives that give the CGS the foundation for
its current strength and high standing.
History of the CGS
In 1946 V. Calvon McKim, State Director of the Nati= onal Council of
Geography Teachers and Chair of the Geography-Geolo= gy Department at Fresno State College, contacted Clifford Zierer, UCLA Geograp= hy Department Chair, suggesting “the possibility of establishing a state council and proposing a meeting” (Carthew 1965, 11).
Zierer assigned Henry J. Bruman, Assistant Professo= r of Geography
at UCLA, the task of calling together geography edu= cators from across
the state.
Letters of invitation were sent (Figure 1) and on December 7, 1946,
a group of seventeen geographers met in Royce Hall = at UCLA “to
discuss the role of geography in the schools of California and the
possibility of organizing a State section of the Na= tional Council of
Geography Teachers.” (The National Council ha= d been pushing individual states to establish state councils.) Thus began what we = now
know as the California Geographical Society.
In the immediate years following World War II, geog= raphic educators were seeking to keep geography in the forefront of academic
arenas. While the Association of Pacific Coast Geographers (APCG)
already existed as a professional organization, tho= se at the UCLA
meeting felt it focused too heavily on graduate res= earch, and that
California needed a geographical organization to ad= dress all educational levels. At that meeting in 1946, the seventeen founding members—men and women from universities, community colleges, and
high schools throughout the state (Table 1)—organized as the “California Council of Geography Teachers.”
The name of the organization has at times been subj= ect to debate.
In 1960, a move to change the organization’s = focus from teaching
to research forced the membership to consider a name change, but
in the end members voted to maintain its mission an= d name
(Carthew 1965). In 1969, after some deliberation, t= he organization
made a minor name change to the “California C= ouncil for Geographic Education” (from the “California Council of Geography
Teachers”).
By the 1970s, the organization had moved beyond its formative
years and began to examine its mission. President R= ichard A. Ellefsen
(1971–72) established a new “Grass Roots Program” that the next
president, William J. Frazer (1972–73), conti= nued to implement.
According to CGS archival records, the goal of the = Grass Roots Pro-
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
Figure 1—H. J. Bruman’s 1946 letter.
gram was to aid in the improvement and promotion of geographic
education at all levels within the state. This was = to be accomplished
by developing a regional network of geographers to = work on curriculum and teacher credentialing and to organize workshops. As
the decade progressed, the CGS became increasingly active, working closely with the K–12 community. President Christophe= r L. Salter
brought higher visibility to the organization throu= gh various media outlets and journals.
In 1983, the organization assumed a broader mission= and changed
its name to the “California Geographical Society” in order to at-
Geographic Chronicles
Table 1—CGS Founding Members
Name School Affiliation
Homer Aschmann San Diego State College
Ruth Baugh UCLA
Rex Brittinghan Ventura Junior College
Henry Bruman UCLA
Arthur Carthew Los Angeles City College
Myrtle Grenels Fresno State College
Walter Hacker San Francisco State College
Cecilia Irvine University High School, Los Angeles =
John Kesseli UC Berkeley
V. Calvon McKim Fresno State College
Robert Pease Hollywood High School
Lauren Post San Diego State College
Ida Mae Shrode Pasadena City College
Adolf Stone Long Beach City College
Alfred Sumner Stanford University
Walter Willey El Rodeo School, Beverly Hills
Clifford Zierer UCLA
tract members outside of education. The past twenty= years have
seen the CGS build on its solid reputation. In the = late 1990s, in an
effort to boost student participation, the organiza= tion began offering more student scholarships and awards. Students now assume
leadership roles, with representatives on the CGS b= oard voicing student needs and concerns.
Leadership
The CGS has enjoyed a strong history of visionary leadership. A
total of forty-nine people have served as president= of the organization since its inception—thirty-seven from universities or colleges,
nine from community colleges, and three from high schools. The
initial convener, V. Calvon McKim, served as the fi= rst president.
Not surprisingly, the first four presidents were am= ong the
organization’s founding members (Table 2).
Thirty-two years after founding member Arthur Carth= ew served as
president (1948–49), his son John was elected (1980), making them
the only father-and-son presidents of the organizat= ion. John is an
example of past presidents who remain active in the organization;
twenty-three years after his presidency he still is= a force at the meetings.
It took thirty years for members to elect a woman t= o the presidency:
in 1976 Gertrude Reith from CSU Fullerton became the first female
president of the CGS. Since Reith’s path-brea= king election, four other
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
Table 2—CGS Presidents
Year President School Affiliation
California Council of Geography Teachers (1946–1969)
1946–47 V. Calvon McKim Fresno State College =
1947–48 Walter Hacker San Francisco State Col= lege
1948–49 Arthur Carthew Los Angeles City Colle= ge
1949–50 Robert Pease Hollywood High School
1950–51 Benjamin Thomas UCLA
1951–52 Chester Cole Fresno State College
1952–53 David Lantis University of Southern California
1953–54 Alfred Butz Santa Rosa Jr. College
1954–55 Bruce Ogilvie Chico State College
1955–56 David Jennings LA City College
1956–57 Adolf Stone Long Beach City College <= /p>
1957–58 Robert Johnston Petaluma High School =
1958–59 Robert Eidt Los Angeles State College=
1959–60 Walter Olson San Francisco State Coll= ege
1960–61 Howard Nelson UCLA
1961–62 John Crosby Fresno State College
1962–63 Lauren Post San Diego State College <= /p>
1963–64 Raymond Stanley San Jose State Colleg= e
1964–65 Sheldon Erickson Long Beach State
1965–66 Arthur Karinen Chico State College
1966–67 Robert Richardson San Diego State Col= lege
1967–68 William Thomas CSC Hayward
1968–69 Rodney Steiner Long Beach State Colle= ge
California Council for Geographic Education (1969–1983)
1969–70 George Nasse Fresno State College
1970–71 Charles Yahr San Diego State College =
1971–72 Richard Ellefsen San Jose State
1972 (1 week) D.R. Lee Florida Atlantic University =
1972–73 William Frazer Sonoma State College <= /p>
1973–74 James Switzer Southwestern College
1974–75 Thomas Pagenhart CSU Hayward
1975–76 Christopher Salter UCLA
1976–77 Gertrude Reith CSU Fullerton
1977–78 Thomas Best CSU Los Angeles
1978–79 David Hendrickson Fresno CC
1979–80 Donald Holtgrieve CSU Hayward
1980–81 John Carthew Pierce College
1981–82 Charles Yahr San Diego State
1982–83 Joseph Leeper Humboldt State
California Geographical Society (1983–present= )
1983–85 James Blick College of the Sequoias <= /p>
1985–87 Susan Hardwick CSU Chico
1987–88 Clement Padick CSU Los Angeles
1988–91 Richard Hough San Francisco State
1991–93 David Helgren San Jose State
1993–95 Bruce Bechtol CSU Chico
1995–97 Stephen Slakey La Puente HS/Universit= y of La Verne
1997–99 Stephen Cunha Humboldt State Universi= ty
1999–01 Carol Cox Sierra College
2001–03 Jenny Zorn California State Universit= y San Bernardino
2003–05 Debra Sharkey Cosumnes River College =
Geographic Chronicles
women have served as president: Susan Hardwick, CSU= Chico (1985–
87), Carol Jean Cox, Sierra College (1999–200= 1), Jenny Zorn, CSU
San Bernardino (2001–03), and current Preside= nt Debra Sharkey,
Cosumnes River College (2003–05).
Until 1983, presidents served a one-year term; sinc= e then they have
served two-year terms. Presidents typically serve o= n the board for a
few years prior to election to a two-year term as v= ice president, followed by a two-year presidential term and then another two-ye= ar
term on the board as past president. Therefore, a r= un for vice president is a six-year commitment. The dedication of the presidents i= s
evident by their continued participation in the org= anization well
after their years of intense leadership. Indeed, ea= ch year eight to
ten past presidents can be seen actively participat= ing in the meetings and organization. They serve as senior advisors and mentors
for the current board, offering encouragement, gent= le criticism, sage
advice, and insightful ideas for the betterment of = the CGS.
CGS board members, elected by the general membershi= p, assume
active roles in the organization. Positions include president, vice
president, past president, secretary, and treasurer. Board members
also assume responsibilities at meetings (organizing vendors, judging student competitions, awarding student scholarships, etc.)= . In
addition, they help run elections, work on publicit= y and membership, and perform many other tasks. I have served in various other
volunteer organizations and find the CGS board an exceptional
group of dedicated, reliable professionals. They as= sume their responsibilities with sincere concern for the organization, the membe= rship, and the discipline. It is difficult to imagine a better assemblage of volunteers.
Other dedicated volunteers—who may or may not= be on the board—
include a business manager, the editors of The Cali= fornia Geographer
and the CGS Bulletin, and a Webmaster (a position c= reated in the
1990s as the CGS moved into the Internet age with i= ts own Web
site).
Today CGS membership stands at 472, the highest yet documented.
During most of the 1960s and 1970s the organization= had over 300
members and usually more than 400. Very few records= of membership statistics are available for the 1980s and 1990s, so it is impossible to identify trends in membership during this period.
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
Financial Status
At present, the financial status of the organizatio= n is stable and
secure. The road to this security was long, however= , with a few short
inclines between the steep declines. At times, the balance in the
treasury was unknown due to a missing checkbook or records in
disarray. Today’s treasurer, Bill Holder, has maintained impeccable
records that show the organization’s financial health at its very best.
Over the past decade, the board has acted responsib= ly and conservatively to ensure continued financial stability. It has established = a
presidential spending limit and has carefully limit= ed signature lines
on bank accounts to ensure that no single person can abscond with
CGS funds. This became necessary as the treasury ba= lance continued to grow.
The California Geographer
The publication of a journal was a stated goal at t= he initial meeting
of the founding members in 1946. But it wasn’t until 1960 that the
first edition of The California Geographer was prin= ted. The origins of
the journal actually go back to the newsletter of t= he Council, first
edited by Lauren Post of San Diego State College. T= he newsletter
was “published several times a year… [a= nd] covered annual meeting plans, program developments on the campuses, professional
notes and similar matters” (Frazer 1980, 2). =
In 1953, Chester Cole began publishing the Bulletin= in place of the
newsletter, expanding it to include manuscripts. Me= mbers still maintained a goal of publishing a journal, and this was viewed as a s= tep
toward that end (Carthew 1965; Frazer 1980). The 19= 59 Executive
Board was particularly aware of the need for a jour= nal to serve the
“largest and fastest growing concentration of professional geographers in the nation except for Washington, D.C.” (= Frazer 1980, 2).
There was a strong post-World War II expansion of geography and
higher education in California, and the journal was= seen as “a means
of publishing more material on California, on the w= ork of California geographers, or perhaps as an outlet for work which was not
finding space in the four national professional geo= grpahy [sic] journals of the time” (3).
The shallow pockets of the organization in 1959 gav= e the board
reason to pause over this momentous decision. Dues = were $2.00
and annual income totaled less than $500. Producing= a high-quality journal could prove expensive, at least initially. Despite this fis-
Geographic Chronicles
cal uncertainty, the 1959 board gave the go ahead. = Robert A. Kennelly
assumed the editorship and immediately set upon the= task of finding financial support and an inexpensive publisher. He published
the first California Geographer in 1960 with articl= es drawn mostly
from paper presentations at the annual meetings (Ca= rthew 1965;
Frazer 1980).
Editors of The California Geographer have continued= to increase the
quality of the publication, with each editor leaving his/her mark
on the publication (Table 3). There were periods wh= en the publication was nearly not produced and production schedules often lagged. =
However, with the concerted effort of dedicated edi= tors, The California Geographer is now on schedule and continues to include institutional memberships (mainly libraries) in its distribution.
Table 3—Editors of The California Geographer =
Issue Years Editor
1960–1969 Robert A. Kennelly
1970 Robert W. Durrenberger
1971–1972 Elliot G. McIntire
1973–1974 Roderick C. McKenzie
1975–1978 Donald G. Holtgrieve
1979–1982 Ronald F. Lockmann
1983–1990 Donald R. Floyd
1991–1994 Elliot G. McIntire
1995–1996 Bill Takizawa
1997–2001 Ray Sumner
2002–2003 Judy Walton
Associate and Guest Editors
1970 Elliot G. McIntire
1978 Nancy Schluntz
1979 James W. Yerdon
1983–1990 William L. Preston
1995 Ray Sumner
1996 Carol Jean Cox
1997 Arnold Court, Dennis Napier, Barney Warf
1998 David Nemeth
1999 Dale Pullin
Annual Meetings
The initial constitution of 1946 established annual meetings of the
Council. The first meeting was held on Saturday, Ju= ne 21, 1947, in
the San Diego Hotel in conjunction with the APCG me= eting. Homer
Aschmann from San Diego State College was the local arrangements
chair, and Lauren Post gave a slide presentation on “A Geography
Field Trip in San Diego.” In June 1948, the s= econd annual meeting
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
was held in Berkeley, where the tradition began of offering a full
slate of paper presentations as well as field trips= . Like many field
trips since, the first was wrought with challenges:= only the leader’s
car completed the trip over the hills of San Franci= sco (Carthew 1965).
In 1949, the APCG planned to meet outside of Califo= rnia, so the
Council held its meeting at Ventura Junior College = and discontinued holding joint meetings with the APCG. The meetings also moved =
to the first week of May, a tradition that remained= until 2003 (Sacramento meeting), when the board moved the meetings to the last
week in April in order to accommodate colleges and universities
with semester schedules. The Ventura meeting includ= ed vendors
for the first time (Carthew 1965), a practice that continues today.
Under the direction of Carol Jean Cox and Debra Sha= rkey, the vendors have become an integral part of the organization and meetings. =
Following the Ventura meeting, the Council establis= hed a policy of
rotating meetings between northern and southern loc= ations
(Carthew 1965). Recent boards have continued this e= ffort, although
not always with strict adherence to the north-south alternation. At
times in the past, no one on the board was from an institution
interested in hosting the meetings, so there was li= ttle or no choice
in locations. However, the pattern has generally he= ld through the
years. A list of the meeting locations (Table 4) demonstrates the
variety of places the CGS has met, including one out-of-state location—Lake Tahoe, Nevada.
The organization’s fifty-seven meetings have = been held as far north
as Redding (40° 36' N), as far south and as far= east as San Diego (32°
43' N, 117° 10' W), as far west as Ukiah (122&d= eg; 12' W), and at many
points in between. There have been a variety of mee= ting hosts: almost half (twenty-eight) were hosted by a university, seventeen we= re
hosted by a community or junior college, seven were= at a hotel,
four at a high school, and one at a member’s townhouse!
The most frequent meeting destinations have been San Diego and
Fresno: the organization met six times in each city= over the years.
Meetings were held in Los Angeles five times; Chico= , Long Beach,
Sacramento, and San Jose three times each; San Luis Obispo, Shasta,
and Ventura twice each; and once each in twenty-one= other cities.
The membership tends to seek out relatively remote locations—
such as, in recent years, Ukiah, Sonora, and Lone Pine—but mem-
Geographic Chronicles
Table 4—CGS Meeting Sites
Year Location Year Location
California Council of Geography Teachers (1946–1969)
1947 San Diego Hotel 1959 Long Beach Community Coll= ege
1948 UC Berkeley 1960 San Jose State
1949 Ventura Jr. College 1961 San Fernando State Co= llege
1950 Stanford University 1962 Fresno State College =
1951 UCLA 1963 San Diego State
1952 Fresno State College 1964 University of the Pa= cific
1953 San Diego State 1965 Long Beach State
1954 Chico State College 1966 Watsonville High Scho= ol
1955 Santa Monica High School 1967 Los Angeles Comm= unity College
1956 Sacramento Junior College 1968 CSC Hayward
1957 Compton College 1969 San Diego State
1958 Santa Rosa Junior College
California Council for Geographic Education (1969–1983)
1970 Del Webb’s Townhouse, Fresno 1978 Pierce College
1971 Sonoma State College 1979 CSU Fresno
1972 Pasadena Hilton 1980 Shasta College
1973 Hyatt House, San Jose 1981 Harrah’s, Lake Tahoe, NV
1974 CSC Bakersfield 1982 Bahia Hotel, San Diego
1975 CSU Chico 1983 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
1976 CSU Long Beach
1977 Independence High School,
San Jose
California Geographical Society (1983–present= )
1984 Conestega Hotel, Anaheim 1994 Cal Poly Pomona =
1985 CSU Chico 1995 CSU Fresno
1986 West Hills College, Coalinga 1996 Columbia Col= lege
1987 Clarion Hotel, Ontario 1997 Mendocino College =
1988 Pierce College 1998 CSU San Bernardino
1989 Cosumnes River College 1999 CSU Channel Island= s
1990 USC 2000 San Diego State University
1991 Porterville College 2001 Delta College, Stockt= on
1992 Cal Poly San Luis Obispo 2002 Lone Pine High S= chool
1993 Shasta College 2003 American River College
bers also enjoy urban settings, such as Pomona and Sacramento. All
of these venues attract large numbers of meeting participants.
Geographers love field trips, so it is not surprisi= ng that field trips
have been a focal point of the meetings. Field trip= s at the early meetings included the hills of San Francisco (1948), an aerial fi= eld trip of
the Bay region (1950), an aerial field trip of the = San Andreas Fault
and Los Angeles (1951), the Russell Giffen Ranch we= st of Fresno
(1952), the San Diego hinterland to Julian (1953), = the Sutter Buttes
(1954), an aerial field trip of Orange and Los Ange= les counties (1955),
flood field trips in the Sacramento area (1956), Sa= nta Rosa’s apple
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
country to the coast (1958), a Long Beach Harbor bo= at tour (1959),
and the San Fernando Valley’s Anheuser-Busch Brewery (1961)
(Carthew 1965). Many of these trips have been repea= ted in succeeding years, including most recently Sutter Buttes (2003) and Long
Beach Harbor (a boat tour is planned for 2004).
Attendance at the annual meetings is difficult to t= rack. While it is
safe to assume the meeting at Del Webb’s town= house had a smaller
turnout than the 2003 Sacramento meeting at American River College (with over 400 in attendance), the archives provide no precis= e
attendance statistics. The evidence, however, sugge= sts that the 2003
meeting was among the largest ever. Other large mee= tings in recent
years include Pomona (1994) and Lone Pine (2002), w= ith approximately 250 in attendance at each. Some remember meetings from
the early 1970s, when membership was consistently h= igh, as setting attendance records.
The past decade has seen high attendance and participation at the
meetings. Some members have suggested that the 1993 meeting at
Shasta College, hosted by Carol Jean Cox, was a tur= ning point that
brought us into the “modern” era. I con= cur. Cox set a high standard
of professionalism in the quality of the meetings. = She established a
model that organizers for the past ten years have followed.
Awards
Over the years, the organization has established a = series of annual
awards that are announced at the meeting banquet. Non-student
awards include Outstanding Educator, Distinguished = Service, Distinguished Teaching, and Friend of Geography.
The Outstanding Educator Award, established in 1975= , has been
given to geography educators throughout California = (Table 5). A
majority (sixteen) of the past awardees have been f= rom four-year
institutions, while four were from community and ju= nior colleges
and five from public schools. One time, the award w= ent to the two
California Geographical Alliances, north and south.=
Numerous people have served the CGS in exemplary fa= shion. In
1970, the first Distinguished Service Award was bes= towed. The Distinguished Teaching Awards began in 1974. In 1995 the first Friend <= /p>
of Geography Award was given. Tables 6, 7, and 8 pr= ovide lists of
award winners in these three categories.
Geographic Chronicles
Table 5—CGS Outstanding Educators
Year Educator School Affiliation
2003 Gail Hobbs Pierce College
2002 Matt Ebiner El Camino College
2001 Bill Preston Cal Poly San Luis Obispo
2000 Stephanie Buttell-Maxin San Diego Unified SD <= /p>
Stephen Prendergast San Diego Unified SD
1999 Mike Murphy Clovis Unified SD
Jerry Williams CSU Chico
1998 Barbara Fredrich San Diego State University
1997 Robert Christopherson American River College <= /p>
1996 Janice Hamner San Bernardino County Schools
1995 Richard Ellefsen San Jose State
1994 Bill Bowen CSU Northridge
1993 Steve Cunha Cosumnes River College
1992 Calif. Geographical Alliance, North
Calif. Geographical Alliance, South
1991 David Lantis CSU Chico
1990 Bruce Bechtol CSU Chico
1989 Don Holtgrieve CSU Chico
1988 Tom McKnight UCLA
1987 Walter Olson Sonoma State & San Francisco = State Univ.
1986 William Thomas CSU Hayward
1985 Chet Cole CSU Fresno
1984 [unknown]
1983 Willis Park [unknown]
1982 Robt. Kiskadden Los Angeles City Schools
1981 Kit Salter UCLA
1980 [unknown]
1979 Steve Slakey La Puente High School
1978 Howard Nelson [unknown]
1977 [unknown]
1976 Richard Logan UCLA
1975 Bill Wake [unknown]
A perusal of tables 5–8 demonstrates the numb= er of individuals who
have contributed to the vitality of the CGS and its mission, including educators who have inspired generations of students and colleagues with their superior teaching. These are just a few of the
many people who have made a difference to geography= in California.
Student awards are also important to the CGS. As mentioned at the
start of this article, the CGS now distributes more= than $2,000 each
year in student scholarships and awards. Student participation is at
an all-time high, with faculty members bringing van= loads of students to each meeting. For many students, it is their first professio= nal geography meeting and their first formal research presentation in a professional setting. Student awards, all of which are monetary, include the David Lantis Student Scholarship, Tom McKnight
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
Table 6—CGS Outstanding Service Awards
Year Awardee Affiliation
2003 Carol Cox Sierra College
2002 Steve Cunha Humboldt State University
2001 Ray Sumner Long Beach City College
2000 Bill Holder Fountain Valley High School
1999 Steve Slakey La Puente High School
1998 Carolyn Whorff Mt. San Jacinto College
1997 Joe Leeper Humboldt State University
1996 Bruce Bechtol CSU Chico
1995 David Helgren San Jose State
1994 Rich Hough San Francisco State University
1993 Emmett Hayes La Puente High School
1992 Rod McKenzie University of Southern California=
1991 William Preston Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
1990 Don Floyd Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo
1989 Jim Blick San Diego State University
1988 George Nasse CSU Fresno
John Carthew Los Angeles Pierce College
1987 Jim Switzer Southwest College, Chula Vista
1986 Charles Yahr San Diego State College
David Jennings Los Angeles City College
Adolf Stone Long Beach City College
1985 Tom Best CSU Los Angeles
1984 [unknown]
1983 [unknown]
1982 Don Holtgrieve CSU Hayward
Dave Hendrickson Fresno City College
1981 Art Karinen CSU Chico
Dave Hendrickson Fresno City College
1980 Rodney Steiner CSU Long Beach
1979 Andrew Kennelly CSU Hayward
1978 David Jennings Los Angeles City College
1977 Gertrude Reith CSU Fullerton
1976 David Lantis CSU Chico
Chet Cole CSU Fresno
1975 Adolf Stone Long Beach City College
1974 Haig Rushdoony CSU Stanislaus
1973 [unknown]
1972 Loren Post San Diego State College
1971 Alfred Butz Santa Rosa Jr. College
1970 Art Carthew Los Angeles City College
Student Paper Award, Joe Beaton Student Poster Awar= d, Student Map
Award, and Geosystems Award.
The David Lantis Student Scholarship is named after= the
organization’s seventh president, from CSU Ch= ico. David Lantis received the Distinguished Service Award in 1976 and was named=
Outstanding Educator in 1991. Now deceased, Lantis authored numerous articles and textbooks including a California geography textbook used by educators throughout the state. He was a strong supporter = of the CGS.
Geographic Chronicles
Table 7—CGS Distinguished Teaching Awards
Year Teacher Year Teacher
2003 Cynthia Vaughn 1981 [none awarded]
2002 [none awarded] 1980 Jerry Williams
2001 Jerrell Croskrey 1979 Frank Seawall
John Anderson Cal Wilvert
2000 [none awarded] 1978 Bruce Bechtol
1999 Cynthia Delameter Peter Farquhar
Ann Gonzalez Sin-Tong Han
Gwen Jones Bob Hoffman
Lynda Lemon Larry Lane
Gwen Newman Jones Art Karinen
1998 Diane Bruns James O’Keefe
Don Cross Clem Padick
Laurie Finucane 1976 Todd Berens
1997 Sharon Hamid Dan Epstein
Rodney Jones Constance L’Aventure
1996 Stephanie Buttell-Maxin Tso-Hwa Lee
Cheryl Connolly Don Reasons
Liz Meyer Christine Roed
Tom Nelson Jean Vance
Larry Osen 1975 David Balogh
Rosaleen Zisch Jerry Brothen
1995 Kevin Clark Charlotte Crabtree
Steven Kemper Bill D. Holder
Bill McElree Jim Huning
Ed Myles Celeste Kostanick
1994 Joe Beaton Richard Logan
Jeff Cenoz Chuck Martinson
Carol Jean Cox Crane Miller
1993 Carol Douglas Marilyn Millington
Bonnie Emerson Dennis Napier
Donald Floyd Art Nichols
Tom O’Brien Richard Reed
Terry Williams Lester Rowntree
1992 Robert Christopherson Steve Slakey
Janice Jersbek Lawrence Stevens
Carol Light 1974 William Adam
Marilyn Renger Ken Crump
Robert Williams Richard Dastyck
1991 Joan Clemons Don Forth
Pamela Gilgert Carol Hatcher
Sherri Grazda David Hedgecock
Emmett Hayes Donn Jewell
Mary Miller Richard Mackinnon
Edy Nielson Marion Menzel
Richard Raskoff Ellen Murphy (Oicles)
1988 James Claflin Arthur Nichols
Susan Hardwick David Prewetkt
Steve Herman Marianne Reese
William Preston Stephen Slakey
1982 Patricia Chapla Claire Walter
Jim Scofield
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
Table 8—CGS Friend of Geography Awards
Year Awardee
2003 [none awarded]
2002 [none awarded]
2001 Joan Clemons, UCLA
2000 Yumiko Tsuneyoshi, San Diego State University =
1999 [none awarded]
1998 Jack Dangermond, Environmental Systems Research Institute
1997 Joseph Beaton, Cal Poly Pomona
1996 Beth Cantrell, Thomas Brothers Maps Educational Foundation
1995 Frank Baughman, DDS, Porterville
Special Awards
1994 Huell Howser, KCET Television
1975 Carl Nelson, Denoyer-Geppert Co.
The Tom McKnight Student Paper Award honors another longtime supporter of the CGS and its mission. Tom McKnight, from
UCLA, was named Outstanding Educator in 1988 and continues to
be an active participant today. His consummate professional style
and inquisitive nature have earned him the respect = of generations
of students, whom he has engaged with his dynamic lectures. A
prolific author of textbooks on North American and introductory
geography, McKnight has received awards from both Australian and
Canadian geography organizations for his contributi= ons to the field.
The Joe Beaton Student Poster Award carries the nam= e of the late
Joe Beaton, who received the Distinguished Teaching= Award in 1994
and a Friend of Geography Award in 1997. Beaton, who taught at
the California State Polytechnic Institute at Pomon= a, worked hard
to stimulate students to observe and participate in= the world. Never
known for timidity, he taught with a bravado and en= ergy that inspired students and colleagues alike.
The Geosystems Award became the first endowed award= in the
organization’s history. This was made possibl= e in 2002 by Robert
and Bobbé Christopherson. Bobbé and Robert’s Geosystems: An Introduction to Physical Geography is a leadi= ng textbook in physical
geography. Their dedication to furthering our knowl= edge of the
environment is reflected in their enthusiastic supp= ort of students.
Robert Christopherson, from American River College, received the
Outstanding Educator Award in 1997 and was keynote speaker in
the Presidential Plenary at the 2002 meeting.
Geographic Chronicles
Future Directions
The CGS is an outstanding organization and has prov= ided me opportunities for a great deal of professional growth. While it is flourishing today, I see a few areas in which the organization needs to
more aggressively pursue its full potential.
The status of the discipline is continually being challenged in state
and institutional arenas. The CGS could take a lead= in positioning
itself in state curriculum committees and arguing i= ts case before the
California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCT= C). The educational institutions in our state regularly review curriculum, and = it
is important that geographers have a voice on curri= culum and general education committees.
CGS should also take an active role in ensuring that departments
are well poised to fight the inevitable curriculum battles and maintain geography’s presence in the curriculum at all levels. We need
representatives on committees reviewing K–12 standards, establishing curriculum for future teachers, and defining general education
requirements. We need to convince the CCTC that geo= graphy should
be identified in the earth sciences curriculum. Its members need to
hear from this organization and understand that geographers must
be present on the History and Social Sciences review committees.
We have to speak in order to be heard, and I don= 217;t think we’ve been
voicing our concerns in an organized effort to effe= ct change.
In previous times, geographers were more politicall= y astute and active in ensuring that the relevance of geography was known to decision makers. The 1999 CGS meeting at CSU Channel Islands was
the first academic conference held at the not-yet-o= pened campus
(Alvarez 1999). Meeting organizer Linda O’Hirok’s intent was to
make administrators aware that they needed geograph= y in the curriculum. Following the meetings, however, the CGS made little effort= to stay in the minds of key administrators and faculty. We could
have written letters and scheduled a meeting with t= he Provost. The
same should be done with the developing UC Merced c= ampus.
The CGS should continue to work with the California Geographic
Alliance. We should be offering the expertise for pre-service and in-
service training of K–12 teachers. At our sta= tewide meetings, the
field trips are extremely popular. I propose we beg= in organizing field
trips at other times during the year that are aimed= at K–12 educators. We could organize in time frames that make sense for = the teach-
The California Geographer ¦ Volume 43, 2003 =
ers, who often cannot attend our meetings because t= hey must get
released from classroom duties. The CGS could spons= or these field
trips for teachers at lower costs.
I would also like to see improvement in the quality= and quantity of
manuscripts submitted to our professional journal, = The California
Geographer. While the CG is on-track with its sched= ule and operating in a professional manner, I see even greater potential. An increased competitive status is an attainable and necessary goal.
The CGS is a healthy organization at present, but i= t is at risk. Currently, half of the board members are community college faculty=
members. A healthy CGS needs more balance in its bo= ard membership. While in recent years community college faculty members
have increased their involvement, university and co= llege faculty
and K–12 educators have diminished their participation and are
now underrepresented. (At other times in the organization’s history, university faculty members dominated.) We need more university faculty involvement in paper presentations and service on <= /p>
the board. We need to find better ways to connect w= ith the K–12
educators and help in their efforts to enhance geog= raphy education
in their classrooms.
It is also time to start thinking of new ways to ra= ise awareness of
geography among the general public. Perhaps the CGS= could install
“geographical markers” similar to the “historical markers” we see
along the roadside. I would love to see a sign read= ing: “Geographic
Point of Interest, 200 Yards Ahead.” Just as = our founders did nearly
sixty years ago in the aftermath of World War II, we should take
advantage of the situation we find ourselves facing. Issues surrounding globalization, global conflicts, and advancing technolog= ies are
what geography is all about. We certainly have a ro= le to play and
we should position ourselves to do so.
We need to widen our sights and enlarge our sphere = of influence
beyond preaching to the choir. We are poised with financial resources, professional integrity, strong leadership, and an energetic
membership. The time is right for us to seize this opportunity and
take advantage of our circumstances. As the organiz= ation is financially sound, I also believe it’s time to begin taking small risks by
subsidizing meetings that might open up new opportu= nities in different venues; for example, Yosemite, Catalina Island, or San Francis= co.
Geographic Chronicles
I challenge future CGS leaders to set their goals h= igh, because this is
an organization that usually attains its goals. The organization’s
past leadership is positioned to influence some of = these changes.
The present leadership and the newcomers are energe= tic visionaries
for the future. I fully believe we can improve this already great organization.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following individuals for= their insights
into the CGS, past and present: the late Joe Beaton, Bruce Bechtol,
John Carthew, Joan Clemons, Carol Jean Cox, Steve C= unha, Richard Ellefson, Susan Hardwick, Dave Helgren, Don Holtgrieve, the
late Dave Lantis, Joe Leeper, Tom McKnight, George = Nasse, Clem
Padick, and Steve Slakey.
References
Alvarez, Fred. 1999. CSU site to host its first aca= demic symposium. Los Angeles Times, April 30, B4.
Bruman, H. J. 1946. Letter to California geography educators.
CGS Archives, December.
Carthew, Arthur. 1965. A brief history of the Calif= ornia Council of
Geography Teachers, 1946–1964. The California Geographer 6:
11–16.
Frazer, William J. 1980. The California Geographer:= The first 20
years. The California Geographer 20: 1–6.
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