Gregory & Sabrina Chu

Dr. Gregory and Sabrina Chu established this scholarship to support geography majors. Dr. Chu was named Professor Emeritus in the Department of Geography/Earth Science in 2011 following his retirement. He taught at UWL from 1993 to 2010. He also received his undergraduate degree from La Crosse in 1970.

EDUCATION:

• Ph.D. (1986) in Geography with major specialization in Cartography, and minor in Environmental Policy, University of Hawaii-Manoa; Dissertation title: Type Size Selection in Map Design, a User- Preference Approach. Advisor: Dr. Everett Wingert
• M.S. (1974) in Geography with specialization in Cartography, University of Wisconsin-Madison; Thesis title: The Rectangular Grid in Chinese Cartography. Advisor: Dr. Arthur H. Robinson.
• B.Sc. (1970) with major in Geography and minor in Biology, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse.

EMPLOYMENT:

• Professor, Sept 1993 – December 2010, Professor Emeritus since 1/2011, Dept. of Geography & Earth Science, University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; serving as chair from July 2007 – June 2010
• NSF Program Director, August 2003 – August 2005, Geography and Regional Science, Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences, Directorate of Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences, National Science Foundation (on leave from the UW-La Crosse)
• Visiting Professor, September – December, 1998, Department of Geography, University of Caen, Normandy, France
• Director of Cartography Laboratory, also Graduate Faculty, 1981 – 1993, (Professional/Academic Appointment), Dept. of Geography, University of Minnesota
• Visiting Instructor, September – December, 1983, Department of Geography, University of Wisconsin-Madison
• Head of Cartographic Unit, 1974 – 1981, East-West Population Institute, The East-West Center, Honolulu, HI.
• United Nations’ appointed Cartographic Adviser to the Government of Indonesia, May 1979, Central Bureau of Statistics, Jakarta, invited and funded by UNDP (United Nations Development Programme)
• Director of Cartography Lab, also Instructor, 1973 – 74, Dept. of Geography, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS

RESEARCH INTERESTS :

• Geographic Information Science; Precision farming; Map Design and Cognitive processes; Regional geography of China and East Asia; World Regions; Multimedia Cartography and Cartographic Animation; K-12 Geographic education and curricula development; Spatial visualization and spatial thinking

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES:

• Consultancy: Serving as consultant to the National Atlas of Korea, Vol. I; Co-editor of the English language version of National Atlas of Korea, Vols. II and III (with Jongnam Choi); currently co-authoring The National Atlas of Korea, Vol. IV (with Everett A. Wingert).
• Editing: Editor, 2002 – 2009, FOCUS on Geography, a general audience quarterly journal of the American Geographical Society, New York; edited a total of 140 scholarly articles in 25 issues.
• Chu, Gregory, and Barbara Buttenfield, Guest Editors, Cartographic Perspectives, North American Cartographic Information Society (the major cartography journal in the U.S.), #27, August, 1997
• Reviews: Reviewed a total of 14 scholarly articles and one animated digital atlas; reviewed over 1000 research grant proposals as Geography and Regional Science Program Director at the National Science Foundation. Also co-reviewed (with Darryl Napton) the Department of Geography, Minnesota State University – Mankato.
• National Science Foundation Panel Meetings: chaired or served on 12 NSF panels
• Publications: 27 scholarly articles; a middle school geography textbook titled myWorldGeography, published by Pearson Education, 2011 (Lead author: Gregory Chu; co-authors Susan Hardwick and Don Holtgrieve) complete with teachers’ aids, interactive materials, student workpages, worldwide photographs, videos, charts, and maps (944 pages) and also delivered as an online course in addition to the printed book.
• Published a second middle school social science textbook, titled Contemporary World Cultures, published by Pearson Texas, first printing in September, 2014, (Lead author: Gregory Chu; co-authors Susan Hardwick and Don Holtgrieve).
• Published a third book, titled myWorldGeography Interactive by Savvas Learning Co., formerly Pearson Educations (Lead author: Gregory Chu; co-author Don Holtgrieve).