Arthur Getis

Art was born in Philadelphia, PA, on July 6, 1934, the youngest child of Samuel and Sophie (Zeitzew) Getis, who raised him in West Philadelphia. His interest in geography was first piqued during World War II, as he pored over the maps newspapers printed of battle fronts all over the world. He studied geography at Pennsylvania State University for his B.A. and M.A., then went to the University of Washington to obtain a Ph.D. While at Washington in 1961, he had the amazing good luck of meeting and marrying Judy Marckwardt (d. 2010). They spent the next 49 years together, raising children, traveling, writing, entertaining friends, and building an academic career.

Art was a faculty member at Rutgers University, the University of Illinois, and San Diego State University, in addition to holding visiting professorships at the University of Bristol, the University of Cambridge, and UC Santa Barbara. He centered the bulk of his research on statistical geography, breaking new ground in the understanding of spatial autocorrelation. His graduate students will remember Art as a careful scholar and thoughtful mentor. He and Judy authored introductory geography textbooks that are still the standard in thousands of classrooms. Unlike Judy, Art loved math and statistics, keeping up with the San Diego Padres stats, recording local rainfall and temperatures daily, and maintaining a meticulous record of the scores of every tennis and scrabble game he ever played.

Art believed in giving back and helping others. He was a firm believer in the value of all education and made charitable contributions to support many endeavors to make the world a better place.

Judy and Art loved to travel and the world map he hung proudly on the wall bristles with pins marking every spot on the globe they visited, often seeing friends along the way, as they both had a genius for building and maintaining strong friendships.

Art will be missed by his companion and bridge partner of ten years, Roberta King.

Grieving his passing are his three daughters and their families: Hilary and Jamal Tarazi, Sophie (Anuj Patel), and Christina (fiancé Andrew Rodgers); Victoria Getis and Kevin Boyle, Abigail and Hannah Boyle; Anne and Anthony Tibbetts, Darby, Trevor, and Matthew Tibbetts.

Plans for a memorial service later this year are under way. In lieu of flowers, donations to San Diego State University, your local public radio station, or a charity of your choice in his honor would be much appreciated.