Famous Geographers and People Who Studied Geography

There are a few famous people who studied geography and then moved on to other things after obtaining a degree. There are also a few notable geographers within the field who have made names for themselves within and outside the discipline. Below, youll find a listing of famous people who studied geography and famous geographers in their own right. Famous People Who Studied Geography The most famous former geography student is Prince William (the Duke of Cambridge) of the United Kingdom who studied geography at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland; having switched from studying the history of art. He received his  Scottish masters degree (the equivalent of a U.S. bachelors degree) in 2005. Prince William utilized his navigational skills to serve in the Royal Air Force as a helicopter pilot. Basketball great Michael Jordan graduated with a degree in geography from the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill in 1986. Jordan took several courses in the regional geography of the Americas. Mother Teresa taught geography at covenant schools in Kolkata, India before she founded the Missionaries of Charity. The United Kingdom (where geography is a very popular university major) claims two additional famous geographers.  John Patten  (born in 1945) who was a member of Margaret Thatchers government as Education Minister, studied geography at Cambridge.   Rob Andrew  (born 1963) is a former England Rugby Union Player and Professional Rugby Director of the Rugby Football Union who studied geography at Cambridge. From Chile, former dictator Augusto Pinochet  (1915-2006) is usually cited as a geographer; he wrote five books on geopolitics, geography, and military history while associated with Chiles Military School. Hungarian Pà ¡l Count Teleki de Szà ©k [Paul Teleki]  (1879-1941) was a university professor of geography, member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Hungarian Parliament, and Prime Minister of Hungary 1920-21 and 1939-41. He wrote a history of Hungary and was active in Hungarian scouting. His reputation is not great since he governed Hungary during the ramp-up to WWII and was in power when anti-Jewish laws were enacted. He committed suicide over disputes with the army. Russian Peter Kropotkin [Pyotr Alexeyevich Kropotkin] (1842-1921), a working geographer, secretary of the Russian Geographical Society in the 1860s, and, later, anarchist and communist revolutionary. Famous Geographers Harm de Blij (1935-2014) was a famous geographer known for his studies in regional, geopolitical and environmental geography. He was a prolific author, a professor of geography and he was the Geography Editor for ABC’s  Good Morning America  from 1990 to 1996. Following his stint at ABC, de Blij joined NBC News as a Geography Analyst. He is best known for his classic geography textbook  Geography: Realms, Regions, and Concepts. Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) was described by  Charles Darwin as the greatest scientific traveler who ever lived. He is widely respected as one of the founders of modern geography. Alexander von Humboldts travels, experiments, and knowledge transformed western science in the nineteenth century. William Morris Davis  (1850-1934) is often called the father of American geography for his work in not only helping to establish geography as an academic discipline but also for his advancement of physical geography  and the development of geomorphology. The ancient Greek scholar Eratosthenes is commonly called the father of geography for he was the first to use the word  geography  and he had a small-scale notion of the planet that led him to be able to determine the circumference of the Earth.