Golledge, Reginald (1937–2009)

Reginald Golledge was a professor of geography and the director of the Research Unit on Spatial Cognition and Choice at the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB). His extensive body of work spanned more than 40 years of outstanding scholarship in the service of geography. As a senior faculty member at UCSB, he joined the geography department in 1977, only a few years after its inception. His efforts significantly contributed to the flourishing of geography at UCSB and helped establish one of the top geography departments in the United States.

Golledge was born in Australia in 1937. He received his BA (1959) and MA (1961) in geography from the University of New England in Australia and his PhD (1966) from the University of Iowa. During the following decades, he pursued a vast array of research projects. Golledge was highly regarded for his pioneering work in behavioral geography and disability geography. A noncomprehensive list of his research interests includes spatial decision making, migration, travel behavior and activity planning, spatial cognition, cognitive mapping, spatial abilities and spatial knowledge acquisition, wayfinding and navigation, visual impairment and other disabilities, and geography in K-12 (elementary and secondary) education.

Golledge wrote or edited 16 books, contributed to more than 100 book chapters, and was the author or coauthor of more than 100 academic papers. Just as his prolific publications speak of his devotion to geography and academia in general, an extensive number of honors and accolades have accompanied his distinguished career. Apart from holding an honorary PhD from Göteborg University in Sweden and an honorary LLD from Simon Fraser University in Canada, Golledge was named a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Guggenheim Foundation. In addition, he received numerous awards, such as the Lifetime Award of the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Gold Medal of the Institute of Australian Geographers, and the UCSB Award for Outstanding Graduate Mentor. Between 1998 and 2000, he first held the position of vice president of the AAG, followed by a term as president of the same organization. More recently, Golledge was the recipient of the Enhancing Diversity Award of the AAG in recognition of his work on geography and disability, actively striving to extend the notion of diversity to include those with disabilities. In early 2009, he was selected as the Annual Faculty Research Lecturer at UCSB, the highest honor given out by the UCSB Academic Senate.

Golledge earned respect and veneration within the discipline, not just due to his extraordinary academic record and scholarly work but also as a result of his lifelong commitment to his students. As an advisor, teacher, and mentor, he has had an impact on the lives and careers of numerous geographers.