University of Washington Department of Geography

The Department of Geography is an academic department within the Social Sciences Division at the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Washington.^[1]

Department of Geography

Parent institution	University of Washington College of Arts and Sciences
Location	Seattle , Washington , USA 47.6566°N 122.3074°W / 47.6566; -122.3074 (Department of Geography, University of Washington)
Website	geography.washington.edu

History

Coursework in geography have been offered at the University of Washington at least since the 1890s, although no department was formally established.^[2] Early courses included political geography and physical geography.^{[citation needed]}

When the university was reorganized at its new location between Lake Union and Lake Washington in 1895, geography coursework was offered through the Department of Geology and Mineralogy in Denny Hall. Science Hall (now Parrington Hall) would become the new home for the department in 1902. Direction for new geographic coursework came under Henry Landes, who was head of the department, and had studied with William Morris Davis at Harvard University.^{[citation needed]}

George T. Renner (Columbia) was hired in 1927 as the first geographer, and expanded the course offerings, which were dominated by physical geography. New courses included economic geography and human geography. In 1928, the department's title was renamed Department of Geology and Geography. Since 1928, there have been twelve heads (or chairs) of the department (Geography would become its own department in 1935):^{[citation needed]}

1. Henry Landes, 1895–1935
2. Howard Martin, 1935–50
3. Donald Hudson, 1950–63
4. John Sherman, 1963–73
5. Richard Morrill, 1973–83
6. Morgan Thomas, 1983–90
7. William Beyers, 1990–95, 2005–08
8. David Hodge, 1995–97
9. Victoria Lawson, 1997–2000
10. J.W. Harrington, 2000–05
11. Katharyne Mitchell, 2008–13
12. Lucy A. Jarosz, 2013–18
13. Sarah Elwood, 2018–present

In 1942, the Department of Geography moved into its present location, Smith Hall on the Quad. Since the start of their graduate program in 1928, the department has granted over 500 M.A. degrees and over 300 Ph.D. degrees.^[3]