Lewis, Peirce (1927–)

Peirce Lewis is a noted cultural geographer who has played a key role in developing ways of understanding landscape. Lewis completed his BA (summa cum laude, 1950) in philosophy and history at Albion College. He subsequently earned both his MA (1953) and PhD (1958) in geography from the University of Michigan. After completing a National Science Foundation fellowship at the University of Washington, he joined the faculty in the geography department at Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in 1958. Over the next 40 years, not only did his name become synonymous with one of the country's leading geography programs, but the quality of his work also cultivated widespread appeal and international recognition. Lewis's 1985 presidential address to the Association of American Geographers (“Beyond Description”) articulates ...