From holding a pilot’s license with aspirations of joining the Royal Air Force to contributing to the beloved children’s television show Sesame Street, Professor Emeritus Roger Downs’ career path in the Department of Geography is nothing short of eclectic.
Born and raised in England, Downs went to college assuming he would enter the Royal Air Force, but a series of factors nudged him in a different direction. His academic pursuits introduced him to Roman archaeology, and he relished his time in the field, crafting maps, and participating in digs. However, Latin courses deterred him from pursuing archaeology further. Instead, geography became his focus, and he earned a bachelor’s degree and a doctorate from the University of Bristol in England.
Early in his academic journey, Downs was able to blend his twin passions of geography and education and collaborations with psychologists set the stage for his academic explorations. This inter-disciplinary approach took a unique turn when he, in collaboration with his partner, developmental psychologist Lynn Liben, worked on Sesame Street.
“Crafting a geography curriculum for Sesame Street was a highlight of my career,” Downs said. “We came up with ideas for segments on the show. One big project we undertook was to help children understand perspective and scale changes. Sesame Street used a crane on a playground in the Upper West Side of New York and had a camera suspended wherever the character was dropping down. It was fun, and we enjoyed it.”
In July of 1970, Downs joined the Penn State faculty, after working at Johns Hopkins University. He taught undergraduate courses in human geography, human spatial behavior, and urban geography, as well as graduate courses in research design and geography education. In 1994, he assumed the role of department head, a position he held until 2007.
One monumental stride for Downs was the development of the Online Geospatial Education program in the early 1990s. Recognizing the burgeoning potential of digital education and invigorated by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s funding, Downs and colleague David DiBiase laid the program’s foundation.
“As department head I decided establishing this online program was a priority and a big investment,” Downs said. “It wasn’t about simply reading and taking tests. We emphasized interactive teaching, and it’s been incredibly successful. It gave us a chance to establish a position and reputation in the geospatial realm.”
This endeavor fundamentally changed the department. Since its 1999 launch, the program has bestowed more than 4,000 certificates and degrees. Presently, it spans an array of more than thirty courses, including Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Spatial Data Science and Programming.
However, for Downs, the heart of his experience at Penn State isn’t just the academic accomplishments. It’s the community.
“Penn State, and particularly the Department of Geography, foster a remarkable sense of culture,” Downs said. “We work collaboratively, with mutual respect, and everyone feels a sense of belonging.”
As he navigates retirement, Downs jests about the intricacies of this transition, saying “There should be lessons on how to retire! The hardest part is learning not to work.”
Despite a life brimming with industriousness, from childhood newspaper routes to stints at butcher shops, retirement is a novel terrain. Still, ever the quintessential geographer, Downs is perpetually in motion—writing, presenting, and traveling between State College and New York.