Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography and Urban Studies Harold M. Rose passed away in February at the age of 86.

Harold was a fixture in the Geography Department for 33 years, joining the faculty in 1962, serving as department chair from 1990-94, and retiring in 1995. His infl uence was felt not only in Geography, but in the Department of Urban Affairs (now Urban Studies) and in the Department of Afro- American Studies (now Africology).

Harold received his PhD in Geography from Ohio State University in 1960. When he joined the UWM faculty, he found himself in a deeply-segregated city trying to navigate the national push for Civil Rights. Inspired by his own experiences, he began challenging racism through community-engaged research at a time when few in the field of geography were willing to acknowledge racism or its consequences.

At UWM, Harold mentored and taught countless students and made significant contributions to the geographic understanding of segregation and racism. Outside of the university, he served as President of the Association of American Geographers
(AAG) from 1976-1977, becoming the organization’s first – and to date, only – black president. He received an AAG Lifetime Achievement Honor in 1996, and, in 2012, AAG announcd the creation of the Harold M. Rose Award for Anti-Racist and Practice in Geography. Harold also published four books, 16 articles, and made presentations at 64 universities across the United States.

Services for Harold were held on Feb. 12 at the Northwest Funeral chapel in Milwaukee.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel published an extended obituary available at http://bit.ly/1V4nuiw.