| William Cunningham is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Minnesota where
he taught for 36 years in the Departments of Botany, and Genetics and Cell Biology. He has also been involved in the Conservation Biology Program, the Institute for Social, Economic,
and Ecological Sustainability, the Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership,
and the McArthur Program in Global Change. He received his Ph.D. in botany from
the University of Texas in 1963 and spent two years at Purdue University as a
postdoctoral fellow. At various times, he was a visiting scholar in Sweden, Norway,
Indonesia, and China, as well as several universities and research institutions
in the United States.
Cunningham's teaching covered a wide variety of courses including biochemistry,
general biology, plant physiology, cell biology, electron microscopy, the social
uses of biology, environmental ethics, environmental science, environmental
health and toxicology, wilderness literature, ways of knowing, and garbage,
government and the globe. His research interests varied from isolation and characterization
of cell organelles (especially mitochondria and the Golgi apparatus), to the effects
of air pollution on plant tissues, and land use planning and environmental policy.
To date, he has published approximately 60 scientific articles or book chapters. He is coauthor
of Environmental Science: A Global Concern and Principles of Environmental Science
published by McGraw-Hill, and was managing editor for the Environmental
Encyclopedia, published by Gale Research. In 1991, Cunningham was honored with the Continuing Education Distinguished
Teaching Award, and in 1993, he won the Morris/Alumni Teaching Award, the highest
recognition of teaching at the University of Minnesota. He served as a Bush
Foundation Faculty Development Mentor in 1994/95, and as a member of the University
of Minnesota Academy of Distinguished Teachers from 1996-2001. A member of the Sierra Club since 1967, Cunningham served on the Midwest Conservation
Committee from 1968-70 and was chair of the Minnesota Chapter in 1973-74. He
also chaired the Northern States Power Company Citizens Advisory Board, the
State of Minnesota Energy Policy Task Force, and was Commissioner of Energy
for the State of Minnesota between 1973 and 1975. He was vice chair of the Friends
of the Boundary Waters Wilderness in 1975-1976. He also was a member of the
board of Directors of YMCA Camp DuNord 1982-1991 and the Acid Rain Foundation
1991-1996. Mary Ann Cunningham is a biogeographer at the University of Minnesota focusing
on applications of geographic information systems (GIS) in environment, conservation,
and landscape ecology. In addition to teaching physical geography, GIS methods,
and world-regional geography, she is proficient in web page design and digital
animation, and has written on a variety of environmental topics. Cunningham believes that geography tends to emphasize the ways environmental
problems, and their solutions, occur at the intersection of the environmental
systems and human decision making structures, and she considers experience with both types of systems essential to an education in environmental science. She received her Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota. Her dissertation was on
using GIS to assess grassland bird habitat. She received a Master's Degree in geography from the University of Oregon, and a Bachelor's degree in geology from Carleton College. Non-academic experience, especially camping as a child and travelling in Asia and Alaska in her 20s, have strongly shaped her outlook and approach to teaching. Beginning Fall 2001,
she will be teaching in the Department of Geology and Geography at Vassar College. |
2002 McGraw-Hill Higher Education