Reece Jones, professor and chair of the Department of Geography and Environment in UH Mānoa’s College of Social Sciences, has been named a 2023 Fellow by the American Association of Geographers (AAG). The lifetime appointment recognizes geographers who have made significant contributions to geographic research, advancement of practice, and careers devoted to strengthening the field of geography, including teaching and mentoring.
“I’m honored to be a Fellow of the AAG, and congratulate my associates who were also recognized this year for their contributions to the discipline of geography,” said Jones. “I look forward to working together with them to support AAG and contribute to initiatives that advance our field.”
Jones will join a diverse group of 16 geographers from a variety of practice areas who have been selected as 2023 AAG Fellows. The group will serve the AAG and advise it on strategic directions and challenges, as well as mentor early- and mid-career faculty.
“AAG Fellows light the way for the pursuit and advancement of geography,” said Gary Langham, executive director of the association. “Their work and experience offer insights into the interaction of space and place with the key issues human societies must understand and help solve. We are grateful for their leadership and advice in advancing AAG and the field.”
Jones, who joined the university in 2008 and also serves as an affiliate faculty member of the Center for South Asian Studies, is known for his ground-breaking and influential research on borders and immigration. He was named a Guggenheim Fellow in 2021 by the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, and his book Violent Borders: Refugees and the Right to Move, published in 2016, won multiple awards for the best book in political geography and has been translated into French and Slovenian. The citation from the British Royal Geographical Society called it “one of the most influential Political Geography books published in recent times.”.
He also authored Border Walls: Security and the War on Terror in the United States, India and Israel, which received the 2013 Julian Minghi Distinguished Book Award for best book in political geography from the American Association of Geographers; and White Borders: The History of Race and Immigration in the United States from Chinese Exclusion to the Border Wall, published by Beacon Press. Jones is editor-in-chief of the journal Geopolitics.
Jones, along with the other 2023 AAG Fellows, will be recognized at an awards celebration on Sunday, March 26, 2023, during the AAG Annual Meeting in Denver, Colorado. The 2023 Fellows cohort also includes individuals from Arizona State University; CUNY Institute for Sustainable Cities; Duke University, Nicholas School of the Environment; Julie Ann Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability; Kansas State University; Kent State University; Ohio University; Rutgers Climate Institute; University of Delaware; University of Georgia; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; University of Kentucky; University of Tennessee-Knoxville; University of Texas at Austin.
Founded in 1904, AAG is a nonprofit organization dedicated to the advancement of geography. Its members, who represent nearly 100 countries, share interests in the theory, methods and practice of geography, which they cultivate through the AAG’s Annual Meeting, scholarly journals and the online AAG Newsletter.
Jones is the second member of the UH Mānoa Department of Geography and Environment to be recognized as an AAG Fellow. Basil Gomez, an adjunct professor in the department, was named an AAG Fellow in 2020.
