In The Spotlight Mapping students' career paths: Pitt-Johnstown geography professor honored for 50 years of achievement

Dec. 17—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown professor emeritus William Kory was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award from the Pennsylvania Geographical Society.

Kory, 82, taught geography at Pitt-Johnstown for nearly 50 years, from 1971 to 2021.

As professor emeritus, Kory has plans to teach courses occasionally and continue serving as editor of the Pennsylvania Geographical Society's semi-annual peer-reviewed journal.

Pitt-Johnstown offers the only geography degree program within the University of Pittsburgh system. And one of Kory's proudest achievements is that he has sent 200 students to graduate schools.

"I wanted to turn on the students to the field of geography," he said, "make it as interesting as possible and show people how important the discipline is to the population at large."

When Kory arrived at Pitt's main campus as a doctoral student in 1969, the school had a thriving geography department, but that changed with turnover of faculty in the 1970s.

Kory and colleague Mary Lavine revitalized the program, bringing it to Pitt-Johnstown in the 1980s, he said.

Geography is a discipline that integrates the environmental and social sciences.

"A lot of people view our field as memorization of cities or countries and oceans," Kory said.

"We want to know where things are located — that's obviously important and an easy thing to do — but then you follow that up by saying, 'Why are they located in those places?' That's really where you begin to look at a variety of things — 'Why is a landform used to build a city or for crops or for irrigational projects? Why is a certain thing there? What is the consequence of that location?' "

'Engaging, charismatic'One of Kory's many students was Bill Simmons, a 1974 graduate of Johnstown High School.

"He sent 200 students to graduate school over his 50-year career — that's four per year. That's astounding to me," Simmons said.

"In a discipline being abandoned by major universities, for him to continue that level of interest is a testament to how successful he has been in his career."

After studying under Kory at Pitt-Johnstown, Simmons went on to Bowling Green University for a master's degree in geography with a concentration in demography.

"I wasn't sure what to study at first in college, but he made me identify the academic area I want to get into," Simmons said.

"At first I thought I'd be an engineer, but I quickly realized engineering wasn't for me. I took a geography class from Bill. I fell in love with his teaching style — engaging and charismatic. It attracted me to that field."

Simmons retired five years ago from the National Bank of Detroit, where he employed his geographical skills to show the company where to put branch offices.

"I learned that from (Kory) — geographers look at how things happen and why they happen," Simmons said.

"My education helped me get a job. As he is entering retirement, it's really nice to see him get recognized by his peers."

On Nov. 5, at the Pennsylvania Geographical Society's annual conference, Kory was honored with the Ruby S. and Willard E. Miller Lifetime Achievement Award, named after the society's founding father.

'Connect with students'

The yearly conference draws the society's members together from across the state. The November conference was held in York and was attended by teachers, those who use geography in the field of economic development and people with an interest in the subject.

"It was a pleasure to come to work every day," Kory said.

"The best part of it all was the great students we've had, many of whom I'm still in touch with as they are on their way."

Carrie Law, of Pittsburgh, graduated from Pitt-Johnstown in 2014 after deciding to stay a fifth year to pursue an extra degree in geography, she said.

She is now customer success team lead for niche.com, a tech company based in Pittsburgh.

"We help people find schools, colleges and places to live," she said. "I do stuff with mapping to make sure the places on our website are represented. I'm the only person on staff with a geography degree. It's a job I enjoy."

As a student, she had initially enrolled in a geography course to fill a graduation requirement, but then grew more interested after taking a class with Kory.

"He's tough but fair, and the more you know him, he jokes around, but he is so passionate about what he does," she said.

"He cared deeply about all his students. ... I think he so clearly loves what he does. He goes out of his way to connect with students and is good at encouraging people and finding ways to motivate them and advocate for them."

Kory motivated Law to go to graduate school.

"He was a voice in the back of my head, saying, 'What are you doing next, educationally?' " she said.

'So important to them'Law progressed to Pitt's main campus for a master's degree in public health. She's incorporated her geography background by researching pandemics.

"He was a big part of my decision," she said. "Even after I had graduated and gone from Pitt-Johnstown, he chooses to care and be part of that journey for students if they want his help."

Kory is a native of Buffalo, New York, and lived in Cleveland and Pittsburgh before arriving at Pitt-Johnstown in 1971.

He lives in Southmont Borough with his wife, MaryAnn.

Their children, Steve and Larissa, are graduates of Bishop McCort Catholic High School, where Kory has coached ninth-grade football for many years.

Steve has a doctorate degree in Chinese language and study from Indiana University, Indiana, and is a professor of Chinese studies at the University of Florida in Gainesville. Larissa attended West Virginia Wesleyan College and is now in Columbus, Ohio, having worked for many years with Nationwide insurance company as a compliance director.

Throughout his Pitt- Johnstown career, Kory said he's been lucky to be surrounded by colleagues in the geography department, especially Lavine, Ola Johansson, Ahmad Massasati and Mitzy Schaney.

Johansson has succeeded Kory as department chairman.

"Bill has impacted a tremendous number of people, and he's still going to be very active in his retirement," Johansson said.

"If I interact with people I don't know out of town, and they find out where I work, they inevitably remember Bill Kory and his classes. He's been absolutely instrumental in sending people to graduate school, and that's been one of his missions."

Johansson said Kory maintains a wide network of people he's taught in the past.

"One professor students come back to visit is Bill Kory," he said. "He was so important to them."