-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Professor Arthur H. Robinson
Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2004 10:19:14 -0500
From: Jaime Martindale <[log in to unmask]>
To: [log in to unmask]
------------------
>All -
>I have some very sad news; Professor Arthur H. Robinson passed away this
>past Sunday morning. Included here is the obituary from the Madison, WI
>Capital Times:
Regards,
Jaime
>Robinson, Arthur H. > MADISON -
>
>Arthur H. Robinson, of 7707 Brookline Dr. Apt. 302, Madison, died at
>Meriter Hospital in Madison on Oct. 10, 2004, after a brief illness.
>Arthur Robinson was born in Montral, Canada on Jan. 5, 1915, the son of
>James Howard Robinson and Elizabeth (Peavey) Robinson. His early
>education was in the United States and in England, after which he took
>the Bachelor of Arts degree at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio, in 1936,
>the M.A. at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1938, and the Ph.D.
>at Ohio State University in 1947.
> From mid-1941 until 1946, he worked
>in Washington, D.C. with the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), the
>forerunner of the CIA, and for almost all of that time he was Chief of
>the Map Division of the OSS. In that position he supervised numerous
>types of cartographic work, including the preparation of nearly 5,000
>maps, in support of the global war effort. During the war he was
>commissioned in the Army with the initial rank of captain, and was
>later promoted to major. For his distinguished service in the OSS he
>received the Legion of Merit. In 1945 the University of Wisconsin-
>Madison offered Robinson a faculty position in the Department of
>Geography, and he began teaching there in 1946. He rose rapidly in the
>ranks of the faculty, becoming Professor of Geography and, in 1967,
>Lawrence Martin Professor of Cartography. He retired in 1980 with the
>rank of Professor Emeritus.
>During his long career he produced fifteen
>books and monographs, one of which, Elements of Cartography, went
>through six editions and became the preeminent textbook in cartography.
>However, the contribution for which he is probably best known to the
>public was the creation of the Robinson Projection, a map projection
>that he referred to as "a portrait of the earth." In 1988 the National
>Geographic Society adopted that projection as its standard for
>producing world maps. The Robinson projection was adopted by agencies
>of the U.S. Government and many other users. Robinson's work was
>internationally recognized, and among his many honors were two honorary
>degrees (from Miami University (Ohio) and from Ohio State University),
>the Distinguished Service Award and the Helen Culver Gold Medal from
>the Geographic Society of Chicago, the Carl Mannerfelt Medal of the
>International Cartographic Association, the Silver Medal of the British
>Cartographic Society, and the John Oliver LaGorce Medal of the National
>Geographic Society. He served as president of the International
>Cartographic Association, and as vice president and president of the
>Association of American Geographers.
>Robinson's marriage of more than
>50 years to the former Mary Elizabeth Coffin ended in 1992, with her
>death. He later remarried, and is survived by his wife, Martha E.
>Robinson of Madison; his son Stephen M. Robinson (Chong-Suk Robinson)
>of Madison; his daughter, Patricia A. Robinson (Leslie Kramer) of
>Sonoita, Ariz.; and two grandchildren, Diana M. Oestreich (Nathan
>Oestreich) of Menlo Park, Calif., and James A. Robinson of Palo Alto,
>Calif. Visitation for family and friends will be at the ELLESTAD
>FUNERAL HOME, Highway 78 North, Mount Horeb on Wednesday, Oct. 13,
>2004, from 4 until 7 p.m.
>In lieu of flowers the family asks that
>donations be designated either for the Arthur H. Robinson Map Library
>or for the History of Cartography Project Fund at the Department of
>Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Checks may be made payable
>to the University of Wisconsin Foundation and sent to 470 Science Hall,
>550 N Park St, Madison, WI 53706-1491.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jaime Martindale
Map/GIS Librarian
Arthur H. Robinson Map Library
University of Wisconsin - Madison
550 N. Park Street, Madison, WI 53706
(608) 262-1471
[log in to unmask]
http://www.geography.wisc.edu/maplib
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