professor, geographer, author, b. Rochester, N.Y. He attended the Normal School at Geneseo, N.Y., taught for several years, and graduated from Cornell Univ. (A.B., 1901). From 1901 to 1909 he was supervisor of the State Model School of New Jersey at Trenton, and in 1909 came to the Univ. of Wisconsin as assistant professor of geography. He became associate professor in 1911, and in 1915 was made professor, serving in this capacity until his retirement because of ill health in 1937. Whitbeck was editor of the journal of Geography (1910-1919), and was the author of several textbooks and articles on geography and the teaching of geography. Among his writings on Wisconsin are Geography and Resources of Wisconsin (1913), Geography of the Fox River Valley (1915), and Geography and Economic Development of Southeastern Wisconsin (1921). Noted especially as an excellent teacher and trainer of geography teachers, Whitbeck was president of the National Council of Geography Teachers (1920), and was president (1925) of the Association of American Geographers. Forced to retire because of his health in 1937, he died in Madison two years later. Who's Who in Amer., 16 (1930); M. Curti and V. Carstensen, Univ. of Wis. (2 vols., Madison, 1949); Madison Wis. State Journal, July 27, 1939.Learn More
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[Source: Dictionary of Wisconsin biography]
