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{{Infobox scientist
| name          = Karl Butzer
| image         = Butzer_karl.JPG
| alt           =
| caption       =
| birth_name    = <!-- only use if different from name -->
| birth_date    = August 19, 1934
| birth_place   = [[Mülheim]], Germany
| death_date    = {{death-date and age|May 4, 2016|August 19, 1934}}
| death_place   = [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], [[Texas]], U.S.
| alma_mater    = [[McGill University]] <small>(B.Sc., M.Sc.)</small><br>[[University of Bonn]] <small>(Ph.D.)</small>
| work_institutions = [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]]<br>[[ETH Zurich]]<br>[[University of Chicago]]<br>[[University of Texas at Austin]]
| field = Geography, cultural ecology, environmental archaeology
| nationality   =
| other_names   =
| occupation    = Geographer, Cultural Ecologist and Environmental Archaeologist
| years_active  =
| known_for     =
| notable_works =
}}
'''Karl W. Butzer'''  (August 19, 1934 – May 4, 2016) was a German-born American geographer, ecologist, and archaeologist. He received two degrees at [[McGill University]], Montreal: the B.Sc. (hons) in Mathematics in 1954 and later his master's degree in Meteorology and Geography. Afterwards in the 1950s he returned to Germany to the University of Bonn to obtain a doctorate in physical geography. He obtained a master's degree in Meteorology and Geography from [[McGill University]] and a doctorate in physical geography from the [[University of Bonn]] in Germany.<ref name="UT Karl W. Butzer">{{cite web|title=Karl W. Butzer|url=http://www.utexas.edu/cola/geography/faculty/profile.php?id=butzerkw|publisher=University of Texas|accessdate=21 October 2015}}</ref>
From 1959 through 1966 he taught at the [[University of Wisconsin–Madison]].  This was followed by a stint at the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland.  Next, he taught at the [[University of Chicago]] until 1984.  After that, he went to the [[Department of Geography and the Environment at University of Texas at Austin]].
==Life==
Butzer was born in 1934 in [[Mülheim]] to a Catholic family.  In 1937 as a young child his family fled{{citation needed|date=May 2016}} Germany for England and later during World War II, they moved to Canada. While he was still a child, his family emigrated, first to England, and then to Canada. His brother is the mathematician [[Paul Butzer]].
Karl Butzer died on May 4, 2016, in [[Austin, Texas]], at the age of 81.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.aag.org/cs/membership/tributes_memorials/af/butzer_karl|title=Butzer, Karl - AAG|work=aag.org|accessdate=7 May 2016}}</ref>
==Major Areas of International Fieldwork==
* Egypt and Nubia, including dissertation fieldwork (1956); archaeological survey for the German Archaeological Institute (1958); Quaternary studies and geoarchaeology for Yale University (1962–63); and geoarchaeology of the ‘Lost City of the Pyramids’ (Ancient Egypt Research Associates) (2001–02).
* East Africa, with the University of Chicago Omo Expedition in SW Ethiopia (1967–69); and independently at Axum, Ethiopia (1971, 1973).
* South Africa, including nine field seasons between 1969 and 1983, focused on Quaternary studies and the geoarchaeology of some thirty sites, including Taung and Swartkrans.
* Spain, including independent research in Mallorca and Catalunya (1969–71); the University of Chicago Excavations at Torralba-Ambrona (1961–63, 1967, 1980–81); and directing the Sierra de Espadan Project in anthropology, historical archaeology, and environmental history (1980–87).''<ref name=Spain>{{cite journal | last =Giménez-Font | first =Pablo|title=Karl W. Butzer y la lectura ambiental de la expulsión de los moriscos |journal =Revista de Historia Moderna 27 | date =2008 | issue =27| page =317|url=http://rua.ua.es/dspace/handle/10045/12712|publisher=University of Alicante| doi =10.14198/RHM2009.27.13|accessdate=1 June 2016| doi-access =free| hdl =10045/12712| hdl-access =free}}</ref> In 2001, Karl and Elisabeth organized and led a series of field trips in eastern Spain for the Conference of Latin American Geographers.
* Mexico, where Butzer carried out annual field trips 1985-91, and directed the Laguna Project 1995-2000, devoted to the Spanish Colonial imprint and to the environmental history of northern Mexico. Karl and Elisabeth Butzer organized and led urban and rural field trips in Central Mexico (1989) and Northern Mexico (2000) for the Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers.
* Australia, fieldwork in collaboration with David Helgren, evaluating the impact of livestock introduction to New South Wales (1999, 2003).
* Cyprus, studying environmental history and geoarchaeology (2004).
* Other fieldwork includes French coastal reclamation in Nova Scotia (1999), and geoarchaeology of Celtic hillforts in northern Portugal (2010-11).
==Courses Developed and Students==
At the University of Wisconsin (1960-66), Butzer regularly offered a course on Pleistocene environments, including what is now called geoarchaeology, in addition to introductory physical geography, and graduate seminars in climatology and coastal geomorphology.
At the University of Chicago (1966-84), he taught advanced courses in physical geography, applied geomorphology, and environmental archaeology, as well as graduate seminars in [[settlement archaeology]] and geography.
At the ETH-Zurich (1981-82), he introduced a new program in human geography, which continued to be implemented after his departure.
At the University of Texas (since 1984), he offered graduate courses in geoarchaeology and environmental history; cultural ecology; historical geography; and landscape, society, and meaning.
In 2005 he received an Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award of the University of Texas.  He has had 30 Ph.D.’s (9 of them women) and 16 M.A.’s (7 women), at Wisconsin, Chicago, and Texas.
== Honors ==
* 2009: [http://www.aag-gsg.org/awards/marcus_winners.shtml Melvin G. Marcus Distinguished Career Award] - [http://www.aag-gsg.org/ Geomorphology Specialty Group] of the [http://www.aag.org/ Association of American Geographers]
* [[Busk Medal]] of the Royal Geographical Society<ref name=CLAG>{{cite web | last =Scarpaci | first =Joseph L. | author2 =Doolittle, William | title =The 1997 Carl O. Sauer Distinguished Scholar Award | work =Yearbook 1998 | publisher =Conference of Latin Americanist Geographers | date =1998 | url =http://sites.maxwell.syr.edu/clag/yearbook1998/doolittle.htm | accessdate =2009-02-18 | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20100611030926/http://sites.maxwell.syr.edu/clag/yearbook1998/doolittle.htm | archive-date =2010-06-11 | url-status =dead }}</ref>
* Fryxell Medal of the Society of American Archaeology<ref name=CLAG/>
* 1986: Archaeological Geology Award<ref name=CLAG/>
* 1991 Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology<ref name="Archaeological Institute of America">{{cite web|title=Karl W. Butzer— 1991 Pomerance Award for Scientific Contributions to Archaeology|url=https://www.archaeological.org/karlwbutzer%E2%80%941991pomeranceawardscientificcontributionsarchaeology|publisher=Archaeological Institute of America|accessdate=21 October 2015}}</ref>
* 2002: Preston E. James Eminent Latin Americanist Career Award
* 1996: member,  National Academy of Sciences<ref name=CLAG/>
* Member, American Academy of Arts and Sciences<ref name=CLAG/>
== Selected publications ==
* 1964 ''Environment and Archaeology:  An Ecological Approach to Prehistory''.<ref name="UT Karl W. Butzer" />
* 1976 ''Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt: A Study in Cultural Ecology.''<ref name="University of Chicago">{{cite web|title=Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt|url=https://oi.uchicago.edu/sites/oi.uchicago.edu/files/uploads/shared/docs/early_hydraulic.pdf|publisher=University of Chicago|accessdate=21 October 2015}}</ref>
* 1978 ''Dimensions of Human Geography:  Essays on Some Familiar and Neglected Themes.''<ref name="UT Karl W. Butzer" />
* 1982 ''Archaeology as Human Ecology: Method and Theory for a Contextual Approach''.
* 1988 "Cattle and Sheep from Old to New Spain: Historical Antecedents," ''Annals of the Association of American Geographers'' 78: 29-56.<ref name="UT Karl W. Butzer" />
* 1993 "The Classical Tradition of Agronomic Science:  Perspectives on Carolingian Agriculture and Agronomy," In: P.L. Butzer and D. Lohrmann (eds.), ''Science in Western and eastern Civilization in Carolingian Times'', pp.&nbsp;539–596.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*[http://sites.utexas.edu/butzer/ Karl W. Butzer], Raymond C. Dickson Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts
*[http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/butzer-karl.pdf B. L. Turner II, "Karl W. Butzer", Biographical Memoirs of the National Academy of Sciences (2017)]
{{Authority control}}
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[[Category:1934 births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:McGill University Faculty of Science alumni]]
[[Category:University of Bonn alumni]]
[[Category:University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty]]
[[Category:University of Chicago faculty]]
[[Category:University of Texas at Austin faculty]]
[[Category:20th-century American geographers]]
[[Category:Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences]]
[[Category:Emigrants from Nazi Germany]]
[[Category:Immigrants to the United States]]
[[Category:Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:American archaeologists]]