Few individuals leave as profound a mark on a department as Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Dr. Mark Schwartz. As we celebrate his retirement, we are honored to share reflections from colleagues and former students who offer insights into the career, character, and legacy of one of UWM Geography’s most distinguished faculty members.
Mick Day (Professor Emeritus of Geography)
I have been delighted and honored to know Mark since he joined the UWM Geography Department in 1992, arriving from San Francisco State University and advancing rapidly along the tenure-track process to become Full Professor in 2002 and Distinguished Professor in 2010. During those 34 years I have seen Mark evolve from an introspective and aspiring young academic into a prominent, eminent and voluble senior university personality, now widely known and respected by all with whom he has interacted. Along the way we have shared as friends many of his professional accomplishments, awards and challenges, the last of these particularly during his time helming the department for 15 years between 1996 and 2020, and serving on the Academic Senate Executive (University) Committee for 19 years, seven of those as Chair, from 2000 onwards. As a meteorological metaphor, that’s akin to enduring recurring hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, floods and droughts for three decades as a weather forecaster in the spotlight with heavy responsibility, limited information and no control!
Outstanding though Mark’s professional academic record is, and I’ve done it scant justice here, he also has a remarkable personal life, glimpses of which I have been honored to catch during our ongoing friendship. I’m not going to reveal personal confidences here, but I feel that there are some things about Mark which deserve wider recognition, and which provide context to his public persona and his professional achievements. An only child born under the astrological sign of Taurus (make of that what you will!), Mark has always had deep family ties, best exemplified by his loving relationships with his parents and by his devotion to Ann, his wife since 1981, and their three children: Justin and twins Helen and Peter. Like all families, they have experienced both unbounded joy and deep sadness, but they are the bedrock upon which Mark’s goals, interests, achievements, and personality rest. Above all, Mark is a good and decent person, one whose traits of honesty, dependability, integrity and perspective are sometimes under-appreciated. In his own way, he is deeply religious, charitable and philanthropic, bearing no malice and striving to help others to the best of his abilities. Is he a saint? No, of course not. Do we always agree? No (I was born under Aries), but we certainly respect each other’s opinions. Can he be impulsive? Does he have a temper? Can he swear? Does he hate it when he doesn’t live up to his own expectations? Having played racquetball with him for more than a decade (he would never flout the rules), I know the answers, but they in no way affect our friendship, and others would do well to appreciate the extent to which he maintains his civility and self-control despite the inevitable provocations of his offices.
Some other questions to ponder: Is he environmentally aware? Just ask him about nature, climate in particular, listen to his unreserved response, and know that he has done more to promote understanding of climate change and plant phenology than anyone else you or I know. Is he a keen gardener? Look at his fingernails, ask him about growing sweetcorn, and about rodents, and tiger lilies. Does he make good jam? Patti and I have eaten every jarful he’s given us and we’ve come back for more. Does he enjoy a good beer? Offer him a Guinness (I’d like to take some credit there!) Was he a radio DJ while in high school as an undergraduate at MSU? There is evidence to prove it (ask him to demonstrate his “radio voice”, and it relates closely to the development of his academic career. Does he still consider Michigan State his Alma mater? See the green ring on one of his fingers and look out for the tee shirt that announces which college football teams he supports and doesn’t! Is he a fan of Star Trek? Ask him about” Beam me up, Scotty” or other details and you’ll soon know for certain. Does he appreciate and foster a sense of humor? Try “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and you’ll be in no further doubt.
And there’s so much more to the person whose contributions to Geography, UWM and the department in isolation merit volumes. Have you ever heard him sing? Look out for videos of him performing the national anthem at prominent sporting venues; he has a wonderful voice. Does he live and breathe Geography? Ask him about his instructional experiences, his graduate students, his international connections and his travels! Glen Fredlund and I used to tease him that climatology was not real physical geography because it didn’t involve fieldwork; from the UP to Downer Woods, he now has the scars and understanding of a dues-paying member!
Without doubt, Mark is among the most outstanding individuals ever associated with the UWM Geography Department. He has given and achieved so much, and we should all be proud of him, as I am proud to be his friend.
Ryan Holifield (Professor of Geography)
We would like to express our gratitude to the classic TV series Star Trek, which first aired sixty years ago – for helping launch the extraordinary career of Mark D. Schwartz, one of only two UWM geographers to hold the title of Distinguished Professor. In November 1971, as a boy in tiny Gagetown, Michigan, Mark wondered whether cloud cover might have something to do with the TV reception that allowed his family to pick up (or not pick up) reruns of Star Trek on distant Channel 3. He started recording his observations of atmospheric conditions in a bound paper journal, and his daily habit soon blossomed into a lifelong passion for weather and climate. His original plan – encouraged by awards and experiences with local radio – was to pursue a career in broadcast meteorology, but the intellectual interests he developed as an undergraduate at Michigan State University led him to decide to pursue graduate study in climatology instead.
As a student in the geography PhD program at the University of Kansas, Mark developed both a broader identification with the discipline of geography and the more specific expertise that became the focus of his academic career: phenology, which focuses on how seasonal events in the life cycles of plants and animals respond to variations in weather and climate. Mark soon became a pioneer in developing models that employed surface temperature data and moved plant phenology from its early local and regional focus to studies at the continental scale. Among many other things, his subsequent research combined remotely sensed data with field observations – especially of cloned lilacs – to generate an unprecedented long-term picture of trends in the onset of spring. As a senior scholar, he teamed up with other leading phenologists to create the USA National Phenology Network, which has advanced the science of phenology by coordinating and gathering data from thousands of volunteer observers throughout the country.
In 1992, after a short stint at San Francisco State University and a period of balancing research and childcare, Mark received and accepted an invitation to join the faculty of the UWM Geography department. (He fondly recalls the phone message from Harold Rose, which he received after an especially challenging day of parenting three small children!) He was excited to join a department with an established PhD program, as well as the opportunity to reconnect with his good friend from graduate school, Glen Fredlund. Almost immediately after receiving tenure and becoming an associate professor, Mark was recruited to serve as department chair, a position he held multiple times during his 34-year career at UWM. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, he led the effort to preserve the department’s PhD program – an effort for which he was recognized in 2005 with R. F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors, his first of several awards from the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Beyond the department, Mark built a distinguished record of service to the College and University, including serving many years both as member and chair of the “University” (Faculty Senate Executive) Committee. In this capacity, Mark worked closely with several Chancellors and Provosts, playing central roles in helping lead UWM through times of significant upheaval and change. His exceptional research record, in combination with his extraordinary commitment to service and governance, is reflected in a long list of highly cited publications and many more honors, including the Lifetime Achievement Award from the AAG Climate Specialty Group and recognition as an AAG Fellow in 2019, as well as AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors earlier this year. On top of this, he somehow managed, year after year, to keep our office PCs up to date!
We’re deeply grateful for Mark’s leadership and ongoing commitment to our department for the past 34 years, and we wish him the very best in retirement. Mark, may you “live long and prosper”!
Jonathan Hanes (Institutional Policy analysist at University of Wisconsin-Madison and UWM Geography Ph.D. 2011)
As I neared the end of my undergraduate geography degree at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, I knew that I wanted to pursue a PhD related to geomorphology or vegetation change. Wanting to stay in the Midwest, I took a look at the UWM geography department’s faculty web page and Professor Mark D. Schwartz’s area of expertise caught my eye: measuring and analyzing the timing of spring plant growth in the midlatitudes (phenology, or the “green wave”, as he described it). I applied and was accepted to UWM, met Mark for the first time in person in February 2006, and by June of that year had already made a trip to his new study area in the Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest in Wisconsin’s Northwoods. I was so excited about furthering my studies with Mark, but at that time I didn’t fully comprehend his impacts on the field of phenology, the geography department, and UWM more broadly. I also didn’t realize just how much of an impact Mark would have on my life.
Mark was, and is, a top-notch researcher and scholar. As his graduate student, Mark taught me how to think analytically and do rigorous research by modeling it for me as we collaborated on projects and guiding me in the development of my dissertation. This was also exemplified in his own research that helped establish a thriving phenological research community during a period where changes in climate were becoming more apparent. His development of a suite of phenological models (the Spring Indices) was groundbreaking, and they have been used extensively to better understand the effects of climate change. His research also put a spotlight on the feedback effects of plant phenology on the lower atmosphere and the relationship between ground and satellite-based phenological measurements. Mark’s edited book, Phenology: An Integrative Environmental Science, is further evidence of the phenological research community that bloomed because of his work.
Mark’s career was also characterized by many forms of service. He served as chair of the geography department for years and on multiple occasions, receiving the AAG’s Ronald F. Abler Distinguished Service Honors in 2005 for his pivotal work in the department. He also served extensively in UWM’s shared governance, including as chair of the University Committee. As a graduate student, I knew he had an important university meeting to attend when he would walk into the phenology lab office with a tie. His steady, committed service to the department and university gave me a clear and powerful example. He also demonstrated a commitment to the public good in his co-founding the USA National Phenology Network and years of service to the International Society of Biometeorology (ISB), which provided me with opportunities to become involved and network with other researchers.
Mark’s appointment to distinguished professor, his selection as an AAG Fellow, and the awarding of AAG Distinguished Scholarship Honors and the AMS Outstanding Achievement in Biometeorology Award all highlight the significance of his career.
All of these accomplishments are extraordinary and leave a lasting legacy. On a personal level, what I appreciate the most about Mark are the things that extend beyond academic journals and well-deserved awards. During my five years as Mark’s graduate student, he was an advisor and mentor who worked actively for my good and success as a researcher, teacher, and person. He helped provide project, research, and teaching assistantships that made my dream of earning a PhD possible. Our work together also afforded us many trips to his study areas in the Northwoods, where we battled snow and ticks, enjoyed many meals at the local Chinese restaurant, and talked about everything from science to sports to religion to family life, and more. All of these shared times and experiences forged something even greater than a PhD: a lasting friendship built on mutual respect and accepting each other for who we are. It’s been over 15 years since I graduated, but our friendship remains and we’ve enjoyed many meals and conversations since then. For all of these reasons, Professor Schwartz is a household name in my family and I’m grateful for that. Thank you, Professor Schwartz, for your scholarship, your service, your mentorship, and your friendship.