New York City, NY – Dr. David Kaplan, AGS Councilor and Editor of the Society’s flagship journal, Geographical Review, has been elected President of the American Association of Geographers (AAG) for the 2019-2020 term. Dr. Kaplan is currently serving as the AAG Vice President and will officially start his newly appointed position on July 1, 2019. He will succeed Dr. Sheryl Luzzadder-Beach of the University of Texas-Austin. Dr. Kaplan is a Professor of Geography at Kent State University, where he has taught since 1995. He has written an estimated 60 peer-reviewed articles and chapters, and has published several books including Navigating Ethnicity and Scaling Identities in 2017. Additionally, Dr. Kaplan is the recipient of numerous awards including the Ethnic Geography Career Award (2016) and the Susan Hardwick Excellence in Mentoring Award (2018) Dr. Kaplan’s research interests include nationalism, borderlands, ethnic and racial segregation, urban and regional development, housing finance, and sustainable transportation.
Dr. John Konarski, Chief Executive Officer of AGS noted that, “David has been part of the leadership of AGS for several years and will make an excellent president of our sister organization, the AAG. We congratulate him and look forward to continued collaboration with the AAG.” With regard to his newly appointed position, Dr. Kaplan stated, “The American Association of Geographers represents over 12,000 geographers across the world. Being elected as President of this association is not only a great honor but it allows me to work towards some long standing goals. Most importantly, I hope to expand this community by involving geographers in underrepresented institutions, standalone geographers, community college geographers, and geographers working outside the academy. In this, it is particularly helpful to be able to combine my position at the AAG with my long relationship with the American Geographical Society.“
The American Geographical Society (AGS) is a 21st-century learning society dedicated to the advancement of geographic thinking, knowledge, and understanding across business, government, academe, social sectors, and most importantly with teachers and students. Established in 1851, AGS is the oldest professional geographical organization in the United States. It is recognized worldwide as a pioneer in geographical research and education for over 168 years. The mission of AGS is to advance and promote geography in business, government, science, and education. Our goal is to enhance the nation’s geographic literacy to engender sound public policy, national security, and human well-being worldwide. AGS seeks to engage the American public, from its youngest to its oldest citizens, with new and amazing ways to understand and characterize our changing world. The Society maintains its headquarters in New York City.
