Elmhurst College, Karl's home institution, has established a memorial scholarship fund in Karl's name for the purpose of Providing financial assistance to promising undergraduate geography future educators.

Karl grew up in Buffalo, New York and obtained his B.A. in Geography & History at Valparaiso University, in Valparaiso, Indiana in 1957. He continued his education at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, where he received his M.A. and Ph.D. in 1965.  His primary interest at that time was political geography and his  dissertation was "A Geographic Study of the Chicago Water Diversion Controversy."

Geographic education was very important to Karl all during his career, and he had several "visiting appointments," including those at University of Waterloo, Ontario, Oregon College of Education, Monmouth Oregon, and several appointments at the National College of Education in Lombard, Illinois

In 1966, Karl accepted a position in the Department of Geography & Environmental Planning at Elmhurst College in Elmhurst, Illinois. In addition to many contributions to numerous college committees and councils, he continued as professor of geography for nearly the next 40 years, 35 of those as chairperson of the
4–5 person department. 

As a strong spokesperson for geography and education at Elmhurst College, Karl and his department have had a significant impact on the lives of many young people, a large number who have gone on to graduate school and/or related work in planning and business. Equally important, Karl always treated each student with respect, as a person and not a number.  He led the department in establishing great rapport between geography faculty and students in the department, and graduates have responded by their strong allegiance to the college after their graduation.

Karl's academic interests and areas of teaching included political geography, the geography of U.S. and Canada, and the geography of the former USSR. The latter was the destination of one of his off-campus courses, as was Australia, and Jamaica, his favorite. In January, Jamaica was the site of a three week class, offered many times, which for many students was the highlight of their college experience. Karl directed the class after the first course in the early 1970s was co-directed with Dr. Benjamin Richason of Carroll College.

In addition to teaching and chairperson responsibilities, Karl was very active in several professional geography organizations, including the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Illinois Geographical Society (IGS), and the National Council for Geographic Education (NCGE). The latter organization saw Karl’s continual involvement as committee member, Treasurer, and eventually as President in 1977–78. As such, he was the chairperson for the annual NCGE meeting in St. Louis in 1977. 

Similarly, Karl was a very active member of the IGS, and he and his department hosted the annual meeting at Elmhurst College in 1991, the year he was elected president of that organization.

The highpoint of his professional career came in 1984 when he was awarded, from the NCGE, the George J. Miller Distinguished Service Award.  It is the highest individual honorary award conferred by the NCGE.

If you are interested in contributing to the Karl A. Robert Memorial Scholarship Fund, please contact:

Dr. Michael Lindberg, Associate Professor of Geography, Chair of the Department Elmhurst College Department of Geography & Geosciences (630) 617-3598 michaell@elmhurst.edu

Dr. Rich Schultz, Assistant Professor of Geography Elmhurst College Department of Geography & Geosciences (630) 617-3128 richs@elmhurst.edu