Mather, John Russell (1923–2003)

John Russell (“Russ”) Mather was an accomplished geographical climatologist whose career spanned the second half of the 20th century. Mather's work is relevant because it helped establish the climatic water budget and the linkages between climate and water resources as major themes within modern climate science and geography. This entry recalls Mather's work at the Laboratory of Climatology in New Jersey and at the University of Delaware (UD). His contributions to American geography—especially to the Association of American Geographers (AAG) and the American Geographical Society (AGS)—are summarized as well.

Mather was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 9, 1923. He began his career in 1948 at the Laboratory of Climatology—after completing his BS and MS degrees in meteorology at MIT—and worked there full-time until 1961. He simultaneously pursued his PhD in geography at Johns Hopkins University, completing it in 1951. Mather's efforts at the laboratory were invested primarily in the climatic water budget, especially in its practical applications. Much of modern water-budget climatology was forged by Mather and his colleagues at the laboratory. Following the death of C. W. Thornthwaite in 1963, Mather became president and director of the C. W. Thornthwaite Associates Laboratory of Climatology, a post he retained until 1972.

Mather's desire to teach—along with his ambivalence toward measurement work—moved [Page 1872]him to leave the Laboratory and join the faculty of UD in 1961. (He retired from UD in 2000.) In 1966, Mather became the first chair of the new UD Geography Department and began laying a foundation for its current programs, especially within climatology; his role in this is among his greatest achievements. Mather was the major advisor for 6 PhD students (5 at UD) and 17 master's students. His first PhD student was Mel Marcus, who, like Mather, was elected president of the AAG. Of Mather's UD PhD students, only Johannes Feddema now leads an academic life—at the University of Kansas.

Mather's enduring interest in the climatic water budget is evident in the overwhelming majority of his publications. He produced more than 25 journal articles and 60 monographs, and he published five important books. The books deal with applied climatology, water-budget analysis, water resources, American and Soviet geographers’ contributions to global-change research, and, finally, the many contributions of C. W. Thornthwaite, Mather's mentor.

Mather held prestigious posts and received notable awards. He was elected president of the AAG in the early 1990s, and he received both the AAG and the AAG Climate Specialty Group Lifetime Achievement Awards in the late 1990s. Mather additionally served as secretary of the AGS and was honored with its Charles P. Daly Medal for distinguished service. He also was elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1989. He died in Avondale, Pennsylvania, on January 3, 2003.