HARRIS, Chauncy D(ennison) 1914-2003

OBITUARY NOTICE—See index for CA sketch: Born January 31, 1914, in Logan, UT; died of cancer, December 26, 2003, in Hyde Park, IL. Geographer, educator, and author. Harris was a prominent geographer best known for his work in researching the geography of the former Soviet Union. A brilliant student, he earned his A.B. from Brigham Young University in 1933; a Rhodes Scholar, he completed a second bachelor's degree at Oxford University in 1936, an M.A. there in 1943, and a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago in 1940; he also studied for a year at the London School of Economics. His teaching career began at Indiana University in 1939, and he taught at the University of Nebraska from 1941 to 1943. Harris's academic work was interrupted by World War II, when he was enlisted by the Office of Strategic Services (the forerunner of the CIA) to work in the Office of the Geographer. In this capacity, Harris, holding the rank of Army lieutenant, lent his expertise to the important work of gathering data from captured German maps. It was about this time that he became interested in the Soviet Union, about which little geography data had been collected in the United States. Joining the University of Chicago in 1943, he began taking a series of trips to the communist nation during the 1950s, a risky business at the time, since the Cold War was in full swing. Harris, who could speak Russian, as well as German and French, nevertheless was successful in working with the authorities there to collect and publish data, especially on the urbanization of the Soviet Union. He released his research in such valuable books as Cities of the Soviet Union: Studies in Their Functions, Size, Density and Growth (1970) and Guide to Geographical Bibliographies and Reference Works in Russian or on the Soviet Union (1975); he also edited several professional journals, including Geography Review from 1960 to 1973, Soviet Geography from 1987 to 1991, and Post-Soviet Geography and Economics from 1992 to 1999. Harris remained at the University of Chicago for the rest of his academic career, becoming Samuel N. Harper Distinguished Service Professor of Geography in 1969; he also worked in various administrative positions, such as director of the Center for International Studies from 1966 to 1984 and as vice president of academic resources from 1975 to 1978. Harris retired as professor emeritus in 1984. Among his many other published works, Harris edited the American edition of Soviet Geography: Accomplishments and Tasks (1962) and, with others, A Geographical Bibliography of American Libraries (1985).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, January 1, 2004, section 1, p. 11.

ONLINE

Chicago Sun-Times,http://www.suntimes.com/ (January 1, 2004).