John and Jan Townshend Donate to the Department

Dr. John Townshend and his wife Jan generously gifted $10,000 as an end-of-year donation, encouraging alumni and affiliates to follow suit in giving to the Department of Geographical Sciences. Dr. Townshend served as Chair of the Department  from 1989-1995 and 2001-2009 and as Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences from 2009-2014.

Under Dr. Townshend’s leadership the Department became known nationally and internationally as a premier geography program. His research on time-series remote sensing was ground breaking and he is the author of more than 100 articles in the refereed literature and more than 30 book chapters. He was recently elected as an American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow for his fundamental contributions to earth resources remote sensing, especially the global study of deforestation and land cover change, and significant administrative leadership in academe.

Our students, faculty, staff, and administration benefit greatly from donations that support furthering education in the wide-reaching field of geography. Dr. and Mrs. Townshend serve as an example of how UMD alumni and affiliates can enable the next generation of scientists to pursue higher education.

Published on Fri, 01/10/2020 - 09:32