Smith, J. Russell

Smith, J. (Joseph) Russell

(1874–1966) geographer; born near Lincoln, Va. After earning his Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, he stayed there to teach at the Wharton School (1903–19). He then became chairman of the division of economic geography at Columbia University's Business School (1919–44). A pioneer in the field of economic geography, he was a prolific writer whose works include Industrial and Commercial Geography (1913), The World's Food Resources (1919), North America (1925), and Tree Crops (1929).