William Morris Davis - wikipedia William Morris Davis For the Pennsylvania Congressman, see William Morris Davis ( congressman ). William Morris Davis ( 1850 - 02 - 12 ) February 12, 1850 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania February 5, 1934 ( 1934 - 02 - 05 ) ( aged 83 ) Pasadena, California Nationality United States Known for cycle of erosion ; peneplains ; often called the `` father of American geography '' Awards Hayden Memorial Geological Award ( 1917 ) Vega Medal ( 1920 ) Penrose Medal ( 1931 ) Scientific career Fields Geography, Geomorphology, Geology, Meteorology Influenced Charles Cotton Jovan Cvijić Douglas Wilson Johnson Walther Penck Hans Reusch William Morris Davis ( February 12, 1850 -- February 5, 1934 ) was an American geographer, geologist, geomorphologist, and meteorologist, often called the `` father of American geography ''. He was born into a Quaker family in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, son of Edward M. Davis and Maria Mott Davis ( a daughter of the women 's advocate Lucretia Mott ). He graduated from Harvard University in 1869 and received a Master of Engineering in the following year. Davis initially worked in Córdoba, Argentina as a meteorologist for three years and after working as an assistant to Nathaniel Shaler, he became an instructor in geology at Harvard, in 1879. The same year he married Ellen B. Warner from Springfield, Massachusetts. While Davis never completed his PhD, he was appointed to his first full professorship in 1890 and remained in academia and teaching throughout his life. Davis ' most influential scientific contribution was the `` geographical cycle '', first defined in his 1889 article, The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania, which was a model of how rivers erode uplifted land to base level. His cycle of erosion suggests that ( larger ) rivers have three main stages of development, generally divided into youthful, mature and old - age stages. Each stage has distinct landforms and other properties associated with them, which can occur along the length of a river 's upper, middle, and lower course. Though the cycle of erosion was a crucial early contribution to the development of geomorphology, many of Davis ' theories regarding landscape evolution, sometimes termed ' Davisian geomorphology ', were heavily criticized by later geomorphologists. When Davis retired from Harvard in 1911, the study of landscape evolution was nearly monopolized by his theories. It was characteristic of Davis to react violently and disdainfully to criticism, particularly to the German criticism in the 1920s headed by Walther Penck ; it was also his characteristic to choose to attack the most vulnerable points of that criticism. Since that time, with a less dogmatic approach and greater knowledge, some authors note that Penck 's and Davis ' ideas have become more compatible and even complementary since the advent of modern tectonic theory. They claim that Davis ' ideas are more applicable near active margins where tectonics are `` cataclysmic '', and Penck 's ideas fit better in models of passive margins and continental platforms. He was a founder of the Association of American Geographers in 1904, and heavily involved with the National Geographic Society in its early years, writing a number of articles for the magazine. Davis retired from Harvard in 1911. He was awarded the Patron 's Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society in 1919. After his first wife died, Davis married Mary M. Wyman from Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1914, and, after her death, he married Lucy L. Tennant from Milton, Massachusetts in 1928, who survived him. He died in Pasadena, California, shortly before his 84th birthday. His Cambridge home is a National Historic Landmark. Contents 1 Legacy 2 Works 3 References 4 External links Legacy The valley of Davisdalen in Nathorst Land at Spitsbergen, Svalbard is named after him. Works Books : Geographical Essays ( Boston : Ginn, 1909 ). Articles : `` Geographic methods in geologic investigations '', National Geographic Magazine 1 : pp. 11 -- 26 ( 1888 ) `` The Rivers and Valleys of Pennsylvania '', National Geographic Magazine 1 : pp. 183 -- 253 ( 1889 ) `` The geographical cycle '', Geographical Journal, vol. 14, pp. 481 -- 504 ( 1899 ). Accessible from JSTOR `` The Physical Geography of the Lands '', Popular Science Monthly 2 : pp. 157 -- 170 ( 1900 ) References ^ Jump up to : Pruyne, John ; Jon T. Kilpinen ( 1996 - 11 - 02 ). `` William Morris Davis ''. Valparaiso University Department of Geography and Meteorology. Archived from the original on 2010 - 08 - 28. Retrieved 2010 - 08 - 18. Davis ' contributions cover the separate fields of geography, geology, and meteorology. Jump up ^ Chorley, Richard J. ; Beckinsale, Robert P. ; Dunn, Antony J. ( 2005 ) ( 1973 ). `` Chapter Twenty - Two ''. The History of the Study of Landforms. Volume Two. Taylor & Francis e-Library. p. 569. Jump up ^ Ford, Derek ( 2007 ). `` Jovan Cvijić and the founding of karst geomorphology ''. Environmental Geology. 51 : 675 -- 684. doi : 10.1007 / s00254 - 006 - 0379 - x. access - date = requires url = ( help ) Jump up ^ Walter H. Bunch ( 1946 ). `` Biographical Memoir of Douglas Wilson Johnson 1878 -- 1944 '' ( PDF ). National Academy Of Sciences. Retrieved 2017 - 09 - 20. Jump up ^ Chorley et al. 2005, p. 614 Jump up ^ Gjessing, Just ( 1967 ). `` Norway 's Paleic Surface ''. Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift. 21 ( 2 ) : 69 -- 132. doi : 10.1080 / 00291956708621854. Jump up ^ Robert L Bates, Julia A Jackson, ed. Dictionary of Geological Terms : Third Edition, p. 125 ( 1984 ) American Geological Institute Jump up ^ Chorley et al. 2005, p. 519 Jump up ^ Saadi, Allaoua ( 2013 ), `` Modelos morfogenéticos e tectônica global : Reflexőes conciliatórias '', Geonomos ( in Portuguese ), 6 ( 2 ) : 55 -- 63 Jump up ^ `` List of Past Gold Medal Winners '' ( PDF ). Royal Geographical Society. Retrieved 24 August 2015. Jump up ^ `` Davisdalen ( Svalbard ) ''. Norwegian Polar Institute. Retrieved 24 February 2015. External links Wikisource has original works written by or about : William Morris Davis Stages in the fluvial cycle of erosion ( illus. ) National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir Works by or about William Morris Davis at Internet Archive Works by William Morris Davis at LibriVox ( public domain audiobooks ) Presidents of the Geological Society of America 1889 -- 1900 James Hall ( 1889 ) James Dwight Dana ( 1890 ) Alexander Winchell ( 1891 ) Grove Karl Gilbert ( 1892 ) John William Dawson ( 1893 ) Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin ( 1894 ) Nathaniel Shaler ( 1895 ) Joseph LeConte ( 1896 ) Edward Orton Jr. ( 1897 ) J.J. Stevenson ( 1898 ) Benjamin Kendall Emerson ( 1899 ) George Mercer Dawson ( 1900 ) 1901 -- 1925 Charles Doolittle Walcott ( 1901 ) Newton Horace Winchell ( 1902 ) Samuel Franklin Emmons ( 1903 ) John Casper Branner ( 1904 ) Raphael Pumpelly ( 1905 ) Israel Russell ( 1906 ) Charles R. Van Hise ( 1907 ) Samuel Calvin ( 1908 ) Grove Karl Gilbert ( 1909 ) Arnold Hague ( 1910 ) William Morris Davis ( 1911 ) Herman LeRoy Fairchild ( 1912 ) Eugene Allen Smith ( 1913 ) George Ferdinand Becker ( 1914 ) Arthur Philemon Coleman ( 1915 ) John M. Clarke ( 1916 ) Frank Dawson Adams ( 1917 ) Charles Whitman Cross ( 1918 ) John Campbell Merriam ( 1919 ) Israel C. White ( 1920 ) James Furman Kemp ( 1921 ) Charles Schuchert ( 1922 ) David White ( 1923 ) Waldemar Lindgren ( 1924 ) William Berryman Scott ( 1925 ) 1926 -- 1950 Andrew Lawson ( 1926 ) Arthur Keith ( 1927 ) Bailey Willis ( 1928 ) Heinrich Ries ( 1929 ) R.A.F. Penrose Jr. ( 1930 ) Alfred Church Lane ( 1931 ) Reginald Aldworth Daly ( 1932 ) Charles Kenneth Leith ( 1933 ) William Henry Collins ( 1934 ) Nevin M. Fenneman ( 1935 ) Walter Curran Mendenhall ( 1936 ) Charles Palache ( 1937 ) Arthur Louis Day ( 1938 ) T. Wayland Vaughan ( 1939 ) Richard E. Blackwelder ( 1940 ) Charles P. Berkey ( 1941 ) Douglas W. Johnson ( 1942 ) E.L. Bruce ( 1943 ) Adolph Knopf ( 1944 ) Edward W. Berry ( 1945 ) Norman L. Bowen ( 1946 ) Arville Irving Levorsen ( 1947 ) James Gilluly ( 1948 ) Chester R. Longwell ( 1949 ) William Walden Rubey ( 1950 ) 1951 -- 1975 Chester Stock ( 1951 ) Thomas S. Lovering ( 1952 ) Wendell P. Woodring ( 1953 ) Ernst Cloos ( 1954 ) Walter Hermann Bucher ( 1955 ) George Sherwood Hume ( 1956 ) Richard J. Russell ( 1957 ) Raymond Cecil Moore ( 1958 ) Marland P. Billings ( 1959 ) Hollis Dow Hedberg ( 1960 ) Thomas Brennan Nolan ( 1961 ) M. King Hubbert ( 1962 ) Harry Hammond Hess ( 1963 ) Francis Birch ( 1964 ) Wilmot Hyde Bradley ( 1965 ) Robert Legget ( 1966 ) Konrad Bates Krauskopf ( 1967 ) Ian Campbell ( 1968 ) Morgan J. Davis ( 1969 ) John Rodgers ( 1970 ) Richard H. Jahns ( 1971 ) Luna Leopold ( 1972 ) John C. Maxwell ( 1973 ) Clarence Allen ( 1974 ) Julian Goldsmith ( 1975 ) 1976 -- 2000 Robert Folinsbee ( 1976 ) Charles L. Drake ( 1977 ) Peter T. Flawn ( 1978 ) Leon Silver ( 1979 ) Laurence L. Sloss ( 1980 ) Howard R. Gould ( 1981 ) Digby McLaren ( 1982 ) Paul A. Bailly ( 1983 ) M. Gordon Wolman ( 1984 ) Brian J. Skinner ( 1985 ) W.G. Ernst ( 1986 ) Jack Oliver ( 1987 ) Albert W. Bally ( 1988 ) Randolph Bromery ( 1989 ) Raymond A. Price ( 1990 ) Doris Malkin Curtis ( 1991 ) E-An Zen ( 1992 ) Robert D. Hatcher Jr. ( 1993 ) William R. Dickinson ( 1994 ) David A. Stephenson ( 1995 ) Eldridge M. Moores ( 1996 ) George A. Thompson ( 1997 ) Victor R. Baker ( 1998 ) Gail M. Ashley ( 1999 ) Mary Lou Zoback ( 2000 ) 2001 -- Sharon Mosher ( 2001 ) Anthony J. Naldrett ( 2002 ) B. Clark Burchfiel ( 2003 ) Rob Van der Voo ( 2004 ) William A. Thomas ( 2005 ) Stephen G. Wells ( 2006 ) John M. Sharp ( 2007 ) Judith Totman Parrish ( 2008 ) Jean M. Bahr ( 2009 ) Joaquin Ruiz ( 2010 ) John Geissman ( 2011 ) George H. Davis ( 2012 ) Suzanne Mahlburg Kay ( 2013 ) Harry McSween ( 2014 ) VIAF : 71522429 LCCN : n81067810 ISNI : 0000 0001 2102 2602 GND : 118671200 SELIBR : 183506 SUDOC : 067058108 BNF : cb12942265f ( data ) BIBSYS : 1056319 ULAN : 500247473 NLA : 35034000 NDL : 00437390 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=William_Morris_Davis&oldid=813931727 '' Categories : 1850 births 1934 deaths American geographers American geologists American meteorologists American geomorphologists American male writers Harvard University alumni People from Pasadena, California Scientists from Philadelphia Penrose Medal winners Recipients of the Cullum Geographical Medal Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society Members of the French Academy of Sciences Members of the Lincean Academy Members of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters Members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences Members of the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Presidents of the American Association of Geographers Hidden categories : Pages using citations with accessdate and no URL CS1 Portuguese - language sources ( pt ) Articles with hCards Pages using infobox scientist with unknown parameters Articles with Internet Archive links Articles with LibriVox links Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with ULAN identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Wikisource تۆرکجه Български Català Čeština Deutsch Español فارسی Français Galego Հայերեն हिन्दी Hrvatski Italiano עברית ქართული Қазақша Кыргызча Македонски Nederlands 日本 語 Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Polski Português Русский Slovenščina Suomi Svenska Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 6 December 2017, at 00 : 26. 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Question: who was considered the father of american geography
Answer: William Morris Davis