Chauncy Harris
Encyclopedia
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...
. His seminal works in the field of American urban geography
Urban geography
Urban geography is the study of areas which have a high concentration of buildings and infrastructure. These are areas where the majority of economic activities are in the secondary sector and tertiary sectors...
("The Nature of Cities" and "A Functional Classification of Cities in the United States") along with his work on the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
during and after the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
era established him as one of the world's foremost urban geographers. He also made significant contributions to the geographical study of ethnicity, specifically with respect to non-Russian minorities living within the Soviet Union. Harris traveled regularly to the Soviet Union and played a key role in establishing a healthy dialog between Soviet and American scholars.
Life and career
Harris was born in 1914 in LoganLogan, Utah
-Layout of the City:Logan's city grid originates from its Main and Center Street block, with Main Street running north and south, and Center east and west. Each block north, east, south, or west of the origin accumulates in additions of 100 , though some streets have non-numeric names...
, Utah
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
. The son of Academian Franklin S. Harris
Franklin S. Harris
Franklin Stewart Harris was president of Brigham Young University from 1921 until 1945, and president of Utah State University from 1945 to 1950....
, he showed an early interest in Geography, declaring to his family at the end of second grade
Second grade
In the United States, second grade is a year of primary education. Second grade is the second school year after kindergarten. Students are traditionally 7–8 years old, depending on when their birthday occurs....
that we was going to become a geographer. He received a B.A.
Bachelor of Arts
A Bachelor of Arts , from the Latin artium baccalaureus, is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate course or program in either the liberal arts, the sciences, or both...
from Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
(BYU) in 1933. The valedictorian of his class, Harris became the first Rhodes Scholar from BYU. The scholarship took him to Oxford where he completed a second B.A. as well as a Master's Degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
. He also received an M.A. from the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
before returning to the U.S. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1940. His dissertation was entitled, "Salt Lake City - a Regional Capital in 1940."
After brief stints at Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
and the University of Nebraska, Harris was appointed Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Chicago
University of Chicago
The University of Chicago is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois, USA. It was founded by the American Baptist Education Society with a donation from oil magnate and philanthropist John D. Rockefeller and incorporated in 1890...
in 1943. Around this same time he was called into military service with the U.S. Department of State
United States Department of State
The United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
, Office of the Geographer. In Washington he became intrigued by the mystery surrounding the Soviet Union. He started studying Russian
Russian language
Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
and exploring the available cartographic
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
and statistical
Statistics
Statistics is the study of the collection, organization, analysis, and interpretation of data. It deals with all aspects of this, including the planning of data collection in terms of the design of surveys and experiments....
information about the country. He published his first two works on the Soviet Union in 1945. His early work in this area left him well prepared in the late 1950s when the Soviet Union began opening up to foreigners. By the time of his first visit, he was already a well established and respected expert in the field. Over the course of his career, he made 14 trips to the Soviet Union and played an important role in fostering and promoting collaboration between American and Russian geographers.
In addition to his work on the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
, Harris made several important contributions to the field of American Urban Geography
Urban Geography
Urban Geography is a peer-reviewed academic journal that was first published in 1980. It appears semi-quarterly and covers topics concerning urban policy and planning, race, poverty, ethnicity in urban areas, housing, and provision of services and urban economic activity.Urban Geography is...
. In particular, in 1945 he wrote "The Nature of Cities" with Edward Ullman
Edward Ullman
Edward Louis Ullman was an American geographer. He proposed that trade was an interaction based on three phenomena: complementarity, intervening opportunities, and transferrability of commodities....
. The paper, published in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, described the Multiple nuclei model
Multiple nuclei model
The multiple nuclei model is an ecological model put forth by Chauncy Harris and Edward Ullman in the 1945 article "The Nature of Cities." The model describes the layout of a city. It notes that while a city may have started with a central business district, similar industries with common land-use...
of urban development, which had prophetic relevance for understanding American cities in the later 20th century. This model gives a suggestion as to the possible land use within a city. It is an alternative model to the Concentric zone model
Concentric zone model
The Concentric zone model also known as the Burgess model is one of the earliest theoretical models to explain urban social structures. It was created by sociologist Ernest Burgess in 1924. -The model:...
and the Sector model
Sector model
The sector model, also known as the Hoyt model, is a model of urban land use proposed in 1939 by economist Homer Hoyt. It is a modification of the concentric zone model of city development. The benefits of the application of this model include the fact it allows for an outward progression of growth...
.
During his professional career Harris held a number of important and prestigious positions including dean of the Division of the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago (1954-1960). He served on the University of Chicago faculty
Faculty (academic staff)
In North American English, faculty is the academic staff of a university: senior teachers, lecturers, and/or researchers. The term is most commonly used in this context in the United States and Canada, and generally includes professors of various rank: assistant professors, associate professors,...
from 1943 to 1984 and then continued as the Samuel N. Harper Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus in Geography until his death in 2003.
Awards and honors
- President of the Association of American GeographersAssociation of American GeographersThe Association of American Geographers is a non-profit scientific and educational society founded in 1904 and aimed at advancing the understanding, study, and importance of geography and related fields...
(1957) - President of the American Association for the Advancement of Slavic StudiesAmerican Association for the Advancement of Slavic StudiesThe Association for Slavic, East European, and Eurasian Studies is a scholarly society dedicated to the advancement of knowledge about the former Soviet Union and Eastern and Central Europe...
(1962) - Councilor of the American Geographical SocietyAmerican Geographical SocietyThe American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...
from 1961-1974 - Secretary-general and treasurer of the International Geographical UnionInternational Geographical UnionThe International Geographical Union is an international geographical society. The first International Geographical Congress was held in Antwerp in 1871. Subsequent meetings led to the establishment of the permanent organization in Brussels, Belgium, in 1922. The Union has 34 Commissions and four...
(1968-1976) - Vice President of the American Geographical SocietyAmerican Geographical SocietyThe American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...
from 1969-1974 - Longtime member of the editorial board of the American Geographical SocietyAmerican Geographical SocietyThe American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...
's Geographical Review - Was a key player in the founding of the American Geographical SocietyAmerican Geographical SocietyThe American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...
's Soviet Geography - Co-editor of Soviet Geography for many years
- In 1985 the American Geographical SocietyAmerican Geographical SocietyThe American Geographical Society is an organization of professional geographers, founded in 1851 in New York City. Most fellows of the society are Americans, but among them have always been a significant number of fellows from around the world...
awarded him The Cullum Geographical MedalCullum Geographical MedalThe Cullum Geographical Medal is one of the oldest awards of the American Geographical Society. It was established in the will of Major General George Washington Cullum , the vice president of the Society, and is awarded "to those who distinguish themselves by geographical discoveries or in the... - In 1987 the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
awarded him the Victoria MedalVictoria Medal (geography)The Victoria Medal is an award presented by the Royal Geographical Society. It is awarded "for conspicuous merit in research in geography" and has been given since 1902.-Past recipients:...