Former U-M geography Prof., Melvin Marcus, dead at age 67

ANN ARBOR—Melvin G. Marcus, former University of Michigan geography professor, died of a heart attack March 2 in Silverton, Colo. He was 67.

Marcus, who had taught at Arizona State University since 1974, died while hiking with his students in the Colorado mountains. He taught at the U-M from 1964 until 1973 and also taught at Rutgers University.

A world-renowned geographer, Marcus had studied glaciers in Alaska and New Zealand, mountains in Turkey and Nepal and the vegetation of the Grand Canyon. He also headed commissions for the National Science Foundation and National Academy of Sciences that examined the state of geography education in the United States and developed a new set of standards for teaching the subject.

He is survived by wife, Mary Ann of Tempe, Ariz.; daughters Annette of Ojai, Calif., and Alison of Bozeman, Mont.; sons Andrew of Bozeman and Ben of Tempe; and three grandchildren.

Donations in his name may be made to the Yosemite National Institutes, GGNRA, Building 1033, Sausalito, CA 94965; American Geographical Society, 120 Wall St., Suite 100, New York, NY 10005; or Melvin G. Marcus Scholarship Fund, c/o Jodie Flores, Arizona State University, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Tempe, AZ 85287.