J. Russell Smith Biography

J. Russell Smith

(Joseph Russell Smith)
economist, scholar, geographer
Born: 1874
Birthplace: near Lincoln, Va.

Having studied and taught economics at the University of Pennsylvania and its Wharton School of Business, respectively (1903–1919), he moved on to Columbia University's Business School where he chaired the school's economic geography program, a field that he largely initiated, defined, and developed. He remained at Columbia until 1944, publishing several books on economic geography, including Industrial and Commercial Geography (1913), The World's Food Resources (1919), North America (1925), and Tree Crops (1929).

Died: 1966