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Preston Everett James was an American geographer. He was president of the American Association of Geographers from 1951 to 1952, and gave the annual presidential address at their 1966 banquet.

James' work had a distinct focus on the geography of Latin America, and as such, the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers' Preston E. James Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award is named for him.

Career

James joined Harvard University in 1916, though left in 1918 for topographic study at a ROTC camp. He decided to join the military and fought in World War I, then returned to Harvard to complete a B.A. and an M.A. before transferring to Clark University, where he received a Ph.D. in 1923. Following this, he joined the University of Michigan faculty. He shifted his priorities to his military service in 1941, after the onset of World War II.

In 1943, James was raised to the rank of Lieutenant colonel, and he served as the head of a geographic division during World War II. Following the war, in 1945, James accepted an offer from George Cressey to join the faculty of Syracuse University, where he earned the title Maxwell Professor of Geography in 1964, and became emeritus in 1970. He served as chair of the Geography Department from 1950 to 1958, succeeding Cressey in the position. During the summer of 1962, he toured Europe by car. Though the specific date ranges are unknown, he also served as adjunct professor of geography at Florida Atlantic University during the 1970s. He was admitted to the Florida Society of Geographers in 1973.

James visited the campus of Rollins College in 1965 to speak at a Latin-American forum. He had also spoken multiple times at the University of Kentucky's Geography in the Bluegrass Day.

In May 1967, James received an honorary Doctor of Science from Eastern Michigan University.

References

1. Martin, Geoffrey J. (1988). "Preston E. James, 1899–1986". Annals of the Association of American Geographers. 78 (1): 164–175. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8306.1988.tb00201.x. ISSN 0004-5608. JSTOR 2563450.
2. ^ Jensen, Robert G. (1986). "Preston Everett James, 1899-1986". Journal of Geography. 85 (6): 273–274. Bibcode:1986JGeog..85..273J. doi:10.1080/00221348608979430. ISSN 0022-1341. ProQuest 1290540886.
3. "Presentation of the Society's Medals". Geographical Review. 57 (2): 241–245. 1967. ISSN 0016-7428. JSTOR 213162.
4. "Medals and Awards". Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
5. "Presidents of the AAG". AAG. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
6. Morey, Lillian B. (ed.). Geography at Syracuse 1967. p. 5. In August 1966, Dr. James was honorary president of the Association of American Geographers and gave the annual presidential address at the banquet in Toronto.
7. "Preston E. James Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award". CLAG. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
8. ^ James, Preston E. Preston E. James Papers. Syracuse University Libraries.
9. Barnes, Trevor J. (2016). "American Geographers and World War II: Spies, Teachers, and Occupiers". Annals of the American Association of Geographers. 106 (3): 543–550. Bibcode:2016AAAG..106..543B. doi:10.1080/24694452.2016.1145513. ISSN 2469-4452. JSTOR 45387626.
10. "James, Preston". The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (3rd ed.). 1979 – via TheFreeDictionary.com.
11. "Geography at Syracuse University". Science. 102 (2644): 218. 1945-08-31. doi:10.1126/science.102.2644.218.a. ISSN 0036-8075. PMID 17778505.
12. "Preston E. James". Britannica (Contributor). Retrieved 2023-05-29.
13. Hall, John Whitney (1952). "News of the Profession". The Far Eastern Quarterly. 11 (2): 287–294. ISSN 0363-6917. JSTOR 2049405.
14. "The Monadnock" (PDF). Monadnock. xxxvii: 13–24. 1963.
15. James, Preston E. (1974). "The Southern Studies Project: A Paragraph in the History of American Geography". Southeastern Geographer. 14 (1): 1–6. doi:10.1353/sgo.1974.0011. ISSN 1549-6929.
16. "MR. MELVIN F.CLEMENS, JR". The Florida Geographer. 9 (1): 3–4. February 1973.
17. Rollins College Office of Marketing and Communications (1965). "Rollins Alumni Record, June 1965". Rollins Magazine.
18. "Geography in the Bluegrass Day". University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences. University of Kentucky. Retrieved 2023-05-29.
19. Morey, Lillian B. (ed.). Geography at Syracuse 1967. p. 5. In May he was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Eastern Michigan University at Ypsilanti.
20. James, Preston (May 11, 1967). "Population Growth & Starvation" (Honors Convocation). Eastern Michigan University. Program. Retrieved 2023-05-29 – via Eastern Michigan University Archives.

Further reading

• Awarding CSU Professor to Geoffrey J. Martin SCSU (PDF). Connecticut State University System. February 7, 1992. (Includes references to James' work and reference to James bibliography)
• James, Preston E.; Bowman, Isaiah. James, Preston E., 1921–1935 – via University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee Libraries. (Correspondence between James and Bowman)
• Symanski, Richard (January 2013). Bad Boy Geographer: A Memoir. Estrilda Publications. ISBN 978-1-4276-9601-4. & Symanski, Richard (January 2020). Inappropriate Behavior and The Making of a Contrarian. (Describing Symanski's interactions with James)

• American geographers
• 1899 births
• 1986 deaths
• Presidents of the American Association of Geographers
• Harvard University alumni
• Clark University alumni
• University of Michigan faculty
• Syracuse University faculty
• Florida Atlantic University faculty
• American military personnel of World War I
• American military personnel of World War II