Distinguished geographer honoured

Internationally renowned geographer Professor Ronald Johnston was honoured with a Doctor of Laws honoris causa at a recent graduation ceremony on the Clayton campus.

Professor Johnston's association with Monash began with a teaching role in the Geography department between 1964 and 1966. In 1967, he was the first in the department to be awarded a PhD.

Since then he has held positions at universities around the world, including at the University of Essex where he was vice-chancellor from 1992 to 1995. He is currently professor of geography at the University of Bristol.

Professor Johnston is also a Fellow of the British Academy. He has received the Murchison Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his contributions to political geography, the Victoria Medal of the Royal Geographical Society for his contributions to human geography, the Honors Award from the Association of American Geographers for "outstanding contributions to human, political and economic geography" and for his work on the history and nature of geographic thought.

In July this year, he was awarded the Vautrin Lud International Geography Prize, which is acknowledged as the equivalent of the Nobel prize for geography.