Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune (April 6, 1913 – January 4, 1993) was an American geographer.

Early life and education

Shannon Boyd-Bailey McCune was born in

Sonchon Sŏnch'ŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, on the coast of the Yellow Sea in west-central North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. To the north it borders Ch'ŏnma, to the east Kusŏng and Kwaksan, and to the west Tongrim; to the south, it borde ...

, in what is now

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

, as the son of

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

educational missionaries George McCune and Helen McAfee. His older brother was

George M. McCune George McAfee "Mac" McCune (; June 16, 1908 – November 5, 1948) was an American scholar of Korea who developed the McCune–Reischauer romanization system of Korean with Edwin O. Reischauer. He taught Korean history and language at Occidenta ...

. He also had two sisters. After receiving his elementary education in Korea, the younger McCune moved to the United States for college, graduating with a bachelor's degree from the

College of Wooster The College of Wooster is a private liberal arts college in Wooster, Ohio. Founded in 1866 by the Presbyterian Church as the University of Wooster, it has been officially non-sectarian since 1969 when ownership ties with the Presbyterian Church ...

in 1935. He earned a master's degree from

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York. Established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church, the university has been nonsectarian since 1920. Locate ...

. After receiving his Ph.D. in geography from

Clark University Clark University is a private research university in Worcester, Massachusetts. Founded in 1887 with a large endowment from its namesake Jonas Gilman Clark, a prominent businessman, Clark was one of the first modern research universities in the ...

in 1939, McCune taught at

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

. He married and had three children. He was the chairman of the geography department at

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theologi ...

from 1947 to 1955, and the provost of the

University of Massachusetts Amherst The University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst, UMass) is a public research university in Amherst, Massachusetts and the sole public land-grant university in Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Founded in 1863 as an agricultural college, it ...

from 1955 to 1961. In 1960, while acting president of UMass, he received an honorary

Doctor of Law A Doctor of Law is a degree in law. The application of the term varies from country to country and includes degrees such as the Doctor of Juridical Science (J.S.D. or S.J.D), Juris Doctor (J.D.), Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), and Legum Doctor (LL ...

s from his alma mater Clark. He left academia and the United States to serve as the first civilian civil administrator of the

Ryukyu Islands The , also known as the or the , are a chain of Japanese islands that stretch southwest from Kyushu to Taiwan: the Ōsumi, Tokara, Amami, Okinawa, and Sakishima Islands (further divided into the Miyako and Yaeyama Islands), with Yonaguni ...

from 1962-64. He became the president of the

University of Vermont The University of Vermont (UVM), officially the University of Vermont and State Agricultural College, is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Burlington, Vermont. It was founded in 1791 and is amon ...

in 1965, but resigned one year later for a research trip to Asia. From 1969 to his retirement in 1979, he was a professor of geography at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

in Gainesville.

Bibliography

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McCune, Shannon Boyd-Bailey 1913 births 1993 deaths American geographers Clark University alumni Colgate University faculty College of Wooster alumni Ohio State University faculty Syracuse University alumni Presidents of the University of Vermont 20th-century geographers People from North Pyongan American expatriates in Korea American expatriates in Japan 20th-century American academics