MICHAEL BRADSHAW

Michael Bradshaw and his wife live in Canterbury, England, and have two sons and three grandchildren. Michael taught for 25 years at the College of St. Mark and St. John, Plymouth, as Geography Department chair and dean of the humanities course. He has written texts for British high schools and colleges since the 1960s. In 1985 he was awarded a Ph.D. from Leicester University for his study on the impacts of federal grant aid in Appalachia. His book, The Appalachian Regional Commission: Twenty-Five Years of Government Policy, was published in 1992. Since 1991 he has written for U.S. students and has been responsible for two physical geography texts and the successful world regional geography text, The New Global Order. Michael believes that we should all be better equipped to live in the modern, increasingly global world. Understandings of geographic differences should make us more able to assess crucial issues and value other people who bring varied resources and who face pressures that we find difficult to imagine.

Michael led the team of three other coauthors in the first two editions and in Essentials of World Regional Geography (2008). Michael retired in 2007 after a prolific career as an author and educator.

GEORGE W. WHITE

George W. White grew up in Oakland, California. He received a B.A. in German studies and geography from California State University, Hayward. He then pursued graduate work in Eugene, Oregon, completing an M.A. and Ph.D. in geography at the University of Oregon. He moved to Frostburg, Maryland, where he met his wife. George is currently a professor in the Department of Geography at Frostburg State University. Political geography and Europe are two of his primary interests. He wrote a book titled Nationalism and Territory: Constructing Group Identity in Southeastern Europe (2000) and another one titled Nation, State, and Territory, Vol. 1: Origins, Evolutions, and Developments (2004).

After meeting Michael Bradshaw, George was impressed by Michael’s long and distinguished career of teaching, research, and publication. He accepted the opportunity to join Michael in his plans to write a new world regional geography text. George initially took lead authorship of the chapters on Europe and Russia and Neighboring Countries, later adding Northern Africa and Southwestern Asia. George is now the main author of Chapter 2 and leads the author team.

George became a geographer because he believes that the field of geography is alive and dynamic, attuned to our ever-changing world and its great diversity. The world regional approach represents the breadth of the field of geography, and world regional geography texts are the epitome of the geographer’s art. This text combines local practices with global processes and explains interactions between the two as they shape each other.

JOE DYMOND

Joe Dymond earned a Master of Science degree from the Pennsylvania State University in 1994 and a Master of Natural Sciences degree from Louisiana State University in 1999. He taught world regional geography courses for the Louisiana State University Department of Geography and Anthropology from 1995 through 2000. During Joe’s six years at LSU, he instructed thousands of students and was recognized in the spring of 1997, fall of 1999, and fall of 2000 for superior instruction to freshman students by the Louisiana State University Freshman Honor Society, Alpha Lambda Delta. Joe currently lives in suburban Washington, D.C., with his wife and daughter, and is an assistant adjunct professor in the Department of Geography at The George Washington University (GWU). In the fall of 2006 Joe was honored by GWU as a recipient of a Morton A. Bender Teaching Award. In this edition, Joe is lead author for Chapter 1 and the regional chapters on Southeast Asia, Australia, Oceania, and Antarctica, Latin America, and North America.

Joe is interested in providing students with the geographic tools that will help them to better understand the human and environmental patterns present in their world. His greatest concern for geography students is that they obtain a comprehensive and fair perspective when learning about the people and places comprising the regions of the world. The style of this text, including the Point–Counterpoint sections, attempts to tell the regional geographic story from many perspectives to students. This structure permits students to better analyze geographic characteristics, connections, and relationships around the world and to think critically about important global issues. Contemporary World Regional Geography: Global Connections, Local Voices teaches rather than lectures.

ELIZABETH CHACKO

Elizabeth Chacko was born and raised in Calcutta (Kolkata), India. She received her undergraduate degree in geography (with honors) from the University of Calcutta. Moving to the United States for further study, she got a master’s degree in geography from Miami University, Ohio. She also obtained a graduate degree in public health and a Ph.D. in geography from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Elizabeth taught geography at the college level at various institutions including Loreto College, Kolkata; UCLA; and The George Washington University, where she is Associate Professor of Geography and International Affairs.

Elizabeth was selected as Professor of the Year from the District of Columbia in 2006 by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE). She teaches courses on South Asia, globalization, medical and population geography, and development. Elizabeth’s research interests include women’s health and the role of culture in health and health care. She is currently engaged in research on transnationalism, the African immigrant community in the United States, and the return migration of Asian Indian professionals to India. Elizabeth is on the editorial board of the Journal of Cultural Geography.

In this edition, Elizabeth is the lead author for the chapters on East Asia, South Asia, Africa South of the Sahara, and the final chapter. She is delighted to be part of an author team of committed geographers. She enjoys helping students to understand the dynamic interactions between humans and the earth’s surface and to comprehend the interplay of economic, sociocultural, and political forces that impact globalization and the spatial variations that result at local, regional, and global scales. She hopes that this book will raise students’ appreciation of the relevance and significance of geography in their lives.