The Best Student Paper Competition was won by

Joshua Hagen, Graduate Student, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin, Madison, for his paper:

"THE MOST GERMAN OF TOWNS: CREATING AN IDEAL NAZI COMMUNITY IN ROTHENBURG OB DER TAUBER"

Josh was given $100 cash prize plus a one-year student membershipo in the Association of American Geographers.

Professor William Dando, recently retired from the Department of Geography, Geology and Anthropology at Indiana State University, was recognized at the West Lakes Business Meeting for his long service to the West Lakes Division.  Division Chair John Schroeder read the tribute below, and presented Bill with an engraved plaque.  Bill's wife and son were in attendance.

"A productive and respected geographer and staunch supporter of geographic activities at all levels retired earlier this summer.  William A. Dando, Secretary of the AAG's West Lakes Division in 1993-94, Division Chair in 1994-95, and its Councillor from 1997 to 2000,  retired from the Department of Geography, Geology and Anthropology at Indiana State University after thirteen years as chairman of that program.

           A native of Pennsylvania, Bill earned a B.S. in geography from California University (PA).  Graduate
study at the University of Minnesota followed, leading to both the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees.   Over his long career, William Dando's honors have been almost too many to thoroughly enumerate, but always, as a scholar, an academic administrator, and a teacher, he has served geography well.  Bill's research interests and publications have ranged broadly over the fields of bioclimatology, agroclimatology, remote sensing, land use, the ecology of wheat production, and famine studies; his regional interests have included Eastern Europe, the Soviet Union, and China, as well as the United States.  A prolific author, Bill Dando has written 21 books and monographs, 70 articles, 51 book reviews, and two atlases.  Many of his written works, such as The Geography of Famine, have attracted international attention and awards.

           Bill has held research and/or teaching positions in Romania, Hong Kong, Maryland, North Dakota, and Indiana.  He has earned numerous awards for excellence in teaching and research.  His work at Indiana State has built that program into one of the Midwest's strongest.  But always his major concerns have been for the well-being of his students and his discipline; that concern has been evident in his writings and presentations even as recently as the 2001meeting in Joliet.

            In the July, 2001 issue of the West Lakes Newsletter, Bill wrote a eulogy for his friend and mentor, John Borchert.  There, he described Professor Borchert as someone who "Ö.enhanced the field of geography all his lifeÖ.an exceptional person, a beloved colleague, a supportive mentor, a scientist, and the builder of the geography program at the University of Minnesota."  In that description, only the name of the institution needs be changed to fit the present case.

            Fortunately, Bill and his wife Caroline have not really retired.  They've only recently returned, in fact, from yet another Russian fieldtrip.  An ISU Senior Scholars Academy is in the works, and a number of books are in the pipeline on their way to publication.  Whatever lies ahead can only serve to  further the profession we share with William Dando.

            Good luck, Bill and Caroline!"

written by John D. Schroeder and Anna R. Carson
 

The URL for this page is:  http://www.geog.umn.edu/West_Lakes_AAG/awards.html

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