On May 11, 2005, several members of the department made two surprise visits to classes to present Huntington Awards to undergraduates Tina Stall (Atmospheric Science) and Chris Reilly (Urban and Regional Studies).

Tina, who graduates this Spring with a B.Sc., she was presented the Huntington Award during her Atmospheric Science 638 class, taught by Jay Hobgood. She has served as treasurer of the Meteorology club and been active in the arrangements for the highly successful Severe Weather Symposium.

Chris will graduate with a B.A. in the summer and is entering the OSU graduate Geography program in the fall. Fittingly, when we met him today he was participating in Nancy Ettlinger's 800.01 graduate seminar. The committee commended Chris for his excellent academic record.

Thanks to all who helped to make this a special event, including Kendra McSweeney, Jeff Rogers, Maire Cieri, Jill Coleman, Diane Carducci, and the review committee.

The Huntington is named for Charles Clifford Huntington (Jan. 12, 1873-Nov. 29, 1956). He obtained a B.Sc. from Antioch in 1896, a Bachelor of Philosophy from OSU in 1902 and a M.A. from OSU in 1903. He was then intermittently at Cornell where he obtained a Ph.D. in 1915. His thesis, "A History of Banking and Currency in Ohio Before the Civil War," was published by the Ohio Archaeological and Historical Society in 1915, a copy of which is available in the main geography office in Derby Hall.

From Professor Guy-Harold Smith's account in the History of the Department, we find that Professor Huntington became an Assistant Professor at OSU in 1909 and taught accounting. In 1913, he obtained the rank of Professor. After receiving his Ph.D. degree, he became increasingly responsible for the geography courses being introduced among the offerings of the Department of Economics and Sociology.

In 1922, Professor Huntington was made Chairman of the new Department of Economics and Social Geography. He continued as Chairman of Geography when the Department was established in 1924. He retired from the Chair in 1934, and from the University in 1943. In 1957, his widow established a fund for an award to outstanding students in Geography. Thanks to John Rayner for preserving this tradition and recording some of these notes.

Among previous awardees of the Huntington are OSU faculty members Ellen Mosley-Thompson (1977), Jay Hobgood (1979), and Hazel Morrow-Jones (1980). Click here for a full list of Huntington winners.

Top Photo: Morton O'Kelly, Tina Stall; Bottom Photo: Jill Coleman, Marie Cieri, Nancy Ettlinger, Chris Riley, Morton O'Kelly

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