Brian Berry

Brian Joe Lobley Berry (born 1934) is a British-American human geographer. He is Lloyd Viel Berkner Regental Professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.

His urban and regional research in the 1960s sparked geography’s social-scientific revolution and made him the most-cited geographer for more than 25 years.

Early life
Berry was born in Sedgeley, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. He was educated at Queen Elizabeth's High School, Gainsborough and Acton County Grammar School, Middlesex.

Student years
Berry graduated from University College, London, with a B.Sc. (Economics) degree in 1955. He went on to the University of Washington where he completed an M.A. in 1956, and a Ph.D. in 1958, studying under noted geographer and leader of the "quantitative revolution" William Garrison.

Professor
Upon completing his Ph.D., Berry was appointed as chaired professor at the University of Chicago, a position he held until 1976. During this time his urban and regional research sparked geography’s social-scientific revolution and made him the most-cited geographer for more than 25 years. His studies subsequently focused on long-wave dynamics and their relationships to macrohistorical phasing of economic development and political behavior.

From 1976 to 1981 Berry was chaired professor at Harvard, and following that was appointed dean of the Heinz College at Carnegie Mellon University for a period of 5 years. In 1986 he joined the University of Texas at Dallas, and has remained there since.

Publications and other achievements
Berry has authored over 500 books and articles, and attempts to bridge theory and practice via involvement in urban and regional development activities in both advanced and developing countries. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1975, is a fellow of the British Academy, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and University College, London. In 1988 he was awarded the Victoria Medal from the Royal Geographical Society. In 1999 he was appointed as a member of the Council of the National Academy of Sciences, and in 2004 was a founding member of the Academy of Medicine, Engineering and Science of Texas (TAMEST).