In Memoriam Louis Seig (1931-2003)

Abstract

Lou Seig's career in geography, marked by tireless service as a dedicated educator and ardent supporter of our discipline, spanned nearly three decades. He influenced and advised countless students and became a respected administrator who enhanced the visibility of geography at three different institutions. Upon retirement from Oklahoma State University (OSU), Lou assumed editorship of the Journal of Cultural Geography, unselfish act that personified his commitment to our discipline. Lou was born May 4, 1931 in New York City. His parents, Victor and Rebecca Seidenberg, had three children whom they raised in the Jewish faith. Lou was their second son and middle child. In 1947 the Seidenberg family moved to New Orleans where Lou attended Fortier High School; he graduated in 1949. That fall he enrolled at Louisiana State University (LSU) and studied geography and anthropology, earning a bachelor's degree in geography in 1954. While at LSU he changed his name to Seig. Following graduation Lou entered the Air Force as officer and served on active duty for two decades. A veteran of the Vietnam War, he retired as a lieutenant colonel in 1974. During the early 1960s Lou returned to Baton Rouge and LSU for graduate study in Fred Kniffen agreed to serve as chair of his research committee, composed of Robert West, H. Jesse Walker, and Malcolm Webb. Long interested in agricultural landscapes, Lou began his study of tobacco cultivation in the Connecticut Valley. He completed his thesis and received his master's degree in geography in 1961, but maintained contact with Kniffen and occasionally notified him of his service duties and other plans. While a graduate student at LSU Lou earned the respect of faculty members in geography and anthropology, including Fred Kniffen and William Haag. Kniffen considered Lou to be an excellent student ... highly competent, hard working, and dedicated to the field of geography. Haag considered Lou ideally suited for the teaching profession. (1) In 1964, after serving as intelligence officer in Spain, Lou was assigned as a geography instructor to the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado. His performance at the Academy was such that he was selected by the Air Force for graduate study, whereupon he entered the Ph.D. program at the University of Minnesota in 1966. Under the advisement of John Webb, Lou began a historical study of Springfield, Massachusetts. This became the basis for his doctoral dissertation. With his Ph.D. in hand, Lou was promoted to associate professor at the Air Force Academy and became chair of the Western European Area Studies Program. This marks the first of many service positions and leadership roles he held during his academic career. Lou's experiences in Colorado inspired his long-term interest in Native Americans, minority groups, and the European region. On several occasions in the late 1960s and early 1970s the Seigs, often accompanied by their good friends, Wes and Nancy Dow and family, would take excursions to visit various Indian pueblos in the Southwest. Lou and Wes also traveled to Belgium and the Netherlands. These adventures, along with earlier experiences in Spain, fostered his fascination with Europe, its peoples, and landscapes, and stimulated his interest in the cross-cultural manifestations of pueblos, ghettoes, and reservations. Lou retired from the Air Force in 1974 and became chair of the fledgling department at the University of Louisville. Lou devoted his energy to guiding that department, which had been established just two years earlier, through its formative years. From the outset he realized that building relations with other programs would help to solidify geography's place in the academic milieu at Louisville. As a result, Lou was instrumental in creating a cooperative interdepartmental program in American Studies. Yet bureaucracies exasperated Lou because he felt they were out of touch with the institutions they were serving. …