MEIR, Avinoam 1946-

PERSONAL: Born November 1, 1946, in Israel; son of Shmuel and Lea Meir; married, 1969; wife's name Ziona (divorced, 1998); companion of Henya Admon (an artist and poet); children: Maya, Yariv. Ethnicity: "Jewish." Education: Tel Aviv University, B.A. (cum laude), 1972; University of Cincinnati, M.A., 1975, Ph.D., 1977.

ADDRESSES: Home—4 Alon St., Omer, Israel 84965. Office—Department of Geography and Environmental Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel; fax: 08-647-2821. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Educator. Yavneh Publishing House, Tel Aviv, Israel, cartographic editorial assistant, 1970-72; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer Sheva, Israel, lecturer, 1977-81, senior lecturer, 1981-87, associate professor, 1987-96, professor of geography, 1996—, department chair, 1982-84, chair of Urban Studies Division, 1986-88, chair of Department for General B.A. Studies, 1997-2002, fellow at Blaustein Institute for Desert Research, 1979-82 and 1987-88, vice dean for regional colleges affairs, 1989-97. Ha-Negev College, lecturer, 1977-78, associate professor, 1989—, academic coordinator of faculty of social sciences and humanities, 1989-97; University of California—Los Angeles, visiting professor, 1984-85. Speaker at colleges and universities, including University of Southern California, University of Cincinnati, University of Washington, Seattle, San Diego State University, University of Montana, and University of California—Berkeley; Israel Council for Higher Education, member of subcommittee for regional colleges, 1989—; Forum for Jewish-Arab Coexistence in the Negev, member, 1999—; Israeli Economic Forum for the Environment, member of executive committee, 2000—. Tesco Supermarket Chain (England), market research designer, 1982-83. Military service: Israeli Military, served, 1965-68.

MEMBER: International Geographical Union (corresponding member of Commission on Rural Development, 1979—, Commission on Population Geography, 1979—, and Commission on Regional Systems and Politics, 1980—), International Union of Cultural and Anthropological Sciences, Israeli Geographical Association (member of council, 1981-88), Israeli Association for Environmental Planning, Israeli Association for Regional Science, Association for Sustainable Development for the Negev, Association of American Geographers, Population Reference Bureau, Eilat College Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Grants from Had Avi HaYishuv, Yad Tabenkin Foundation, Israeli National Academy of Sciences, National Council for Research and Development, Ministry of the Interior, Humphrey Center for Social Ecology, Cultural Fund of the General Federation of Labor, Ministry of Science and Development, Ministry of Housing, Jewish Agency, Joe Alon Center, North Sinai and Gaza Regional Research Institute, and Melinda Foundation.

WRITINGS:

(Editor, with E. Stern) International Aspects of Rural and Urban Metropolitan Systems, Transaction Books (New Brunswick, NJ), 1989.

(Editor, with Y. Gradus and H. Lithwick) RegionalDevelopment: The Challenge of the Future, Negev Center for Regional Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (Beer Sheva, Israel), 1994.

As Nomadism Ends: The Israeli Bedouin of the Negev, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 1997.

(Editor, with O. Yiftachel, and contributor) EthnicFrontiers and Peripheries: Landscapes of Development and Inequality in Israel, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 1997.

ENGLISH TITLES OF WORK IN HEBREW

(Editor, with E. Stern, Y. Gradus, and others) Atlas of the Negev, Keter Publishing House (Jerusalem, Israel), 1987.

(Editor, with D. Grossman, and contributor) The Arabs in Israel: Geographical Processes, Magness Press (Jerusalem, Israel), 1993.

The Centrifugal-Centripetal Tension between the Negev Bedouin and the State: Aspects of Policy and Reality, Floresheimer Institute for Policy Studies (Jerusalem, Israel), 1999.

Contributor to books, including The Effect of Modern Agriculture on Rural Development, edited by I. Volgyes and G. Enyedi, Pergamon, 1982; Providing Essential Services in Rural Areas: An International Comparison, edited by G. Enyedi and R. Lonsdale, Westview Press (Boulder, CO), 1984; Desert Development: Man and Technology in Sparse Lands, edited by Y. Gradus, D. Reidel, 1985; The Transfer and Transformation of Ideas and Material Culture, edited by P.J. Hugill and B. D. Dickson, Texas A & M University Press (College Station, TX), 1988; and Advances in Desert and Arid Land Technology and Development, Volume 5, edited by Adli Bishay and Harold Dregne, Harwood (New York, NY), 1991. Contributor to scientific journals, including Journal of Developing Areas, Geojournal, Canadian Geographer, Rural Systems, Environment and Planning, Human Ecology, Nomadic Peoples, Urban Anthropology, Gerontologist, and Professional Geographer. Overseas editorial correspondent, Journal of Geography in Higher Education, 1982-87.

Editor of "Working Paper Series," Negev Centre for Regional Development, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, 1996—. Coeditor, Geography Research Forum, 1979-89 and 1992—; newsletter editor, Israel Geographical Association, 1985-88.

SIDELIGHTS: Avinoam Meir once told CA: "The primary motivation for my writing is a desire to publish my research results. My writing process involves the integration of my own research findings with other evidence and the evaluation of it in light of the international scholarly literature. I was inspired by the curiosity that characterizes many scientists who are involved in the attempt to understand our world."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Journal of Palestine Studies, autumn, 1999, Michael R. Fischbach, review of Ethnic Frontiers and Peripheries: Landscapes of Development and Inequality in Israel, p. 103.