University of Michigan. Dept. of Geography.

The first geography courses taught at the University of Michigan were offered through the Department of Geology. The size and importance of the geography curriculum within the Department of Geology increased and in 1915/1916 the department was renamed the Department of Geology and Geography. In 1923, the instruction of geography was organized into a separate department and Assistant Professor Kenneth C. McMurry was named to oversee the administration of the new department. Professor McMurry was chairman of the Department of geography until 1955/1956. Professor Charles "Bud" Davis succeeded Professor McMurry and held the position of chairman until 1965/1966. From then until the dissolution of the department in 1982, four different professors acted as chairman: L.A.P. Gosling, 1966-1968 and 1971-1974; M.G. Marcus, 1969-1971; D.R. Deskins, 1974-1979; and J.D. Nystuen, 1979-1982.

The Regents approved elimination of the Department of Geography in June 1981. According to Mr. Billy Frye, Vice-President of Academic Affairs, among the six major reasons for discontinuance were the general economic climate and the University's need to reduce expenditures; and deficiencies in overall department scholarly quality, productivity, and lack of centrality to the curriculum and intellectual life of the College of Literature, Science, and the Arts. In 1982, the Department of Geography had 13 members, nine tenured. The tenured members of the faculty were offered positions in other departments within the University.