Identity area
Type of entity
Authorized form of name
Parallel form(s) of name
Gritzner, Fritz
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
History
Charles F. “Fritz” Gritzner was born June 6, 1936, in Fremont, Michigan, and graduated from Mesa High School in Arizona in 1954. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Geography from Arizona State University in 1958 and completed graduate degrees in geography and cultural anthropology at Louisiana State University. He began his teaching career at East Carolina University in 1960 and subsequently held positions at Louisiana State University, the University of Montana, Oregon College of Education, and the University of Houston before joining the South Dakota State University faculty in 1980.
At South Dakota State University, Gritzner taught undergraduate and graduate courses in geography and served as advisor to numerous master’s degree students. He conducted workshops and institutes for in-service educators and coordinated the South Dakota Geographic Alliance and the State Geographic Bee. He also served as consultant, author, and editor for the Core Knowledge Foundation and as consulting editor and contributor for Chelsea House Publishers’ Modern World Nations series.
His research addressed themes in folk and popular culture and geographic education. He authored or co-authored several books and published in edited volumes and professional journals, including service as contributing editor to the “Panorama” feature in the Journal of Geography. Gritzner served as Executive Director from 1977 to 1980 and President in 1986 of the National Council for Geographic Education and received the George J. Miller Award for Distinguished Service in 1997, as well as the Council’s Distinguished Teaching Achievement and Distinguished Mentor awards. He also received the 2004 Distinguished Teaching Honors Award from the Association of American Geographers. At South Dakota State University, he received the University and F.O. Butler awards for Excellence in Teaching and was designated a Distinguished Professor by the South Dakota Board of Regents in 1993.
Places
Legal status
Functions, occupations and activities
Field of Activity: Geography, Education
Occupation: Geographers, College teachers
Associated Groups: Louisiana State University (Baton Rouge, La.); South Dakota State University