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December 10, 2015 at 2:29 pm

Geography Announces Joe Ferguson Memorial Scholarship

The Geography Department is elated to announce the creation of a new scholarship for Geography students.

Professor Emerita Nancy Bain and her husband, George, endowed the scholarship with a generous donation, which was then combined with funds from the former Margaret Boyd Research Scholarship (that Nancy established in the 1980s).

Photo of Joe Ferguson, courtesy of the National Geographic Society

Photo of Joe Ferguson, courtesy of the National Geographic Society

The Joe Ferguson Memorial Scholarship commemorates the contribution of Joe Ferguson to Geography at Ohio University and to the National Geographic Society as an educator and administrator. Ferguson was killed on 9/11/2001 in the plane that terrorists crashed into the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Bound for California to do environmental work on the Chanel Island, Ferguson and a colleague were taking high school students from Washington, D.C., on the National Geographic Society-sponsored trip.

In the department, Ferguson participated fully in the intellectual life, gave tirelessly as a cartography teaching associate, and worked to create cohesion among his contemporary graduate students. One of the first to be awarded the National Geographic Internship, he moved into the ranks of NGS administrator after its completion. While at NGS, he remained in contact with and was supportive of the department, whether hosting tours of cartographic field trips or providing materials for distribution at the department’s annual Geofest event. In the larger arena of the institution, he participated in residence hall and other social events to the fullest. Read more about Joe Ferguson.

His spirit and contributions are remembered by this scholarship.

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