Karl Butzer was born August 19, 1934 in Germany and emigrated as a child to England and later to Canada. He started his college career at McGill University in Montreal where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1954 and his Masters Degree in Meterology and Geography a year later. Soon after his graduation at McGill University, Butzer received one of his first honors, the Germany Academic Grant which paid his tuition at the famous University of Bonn. After two years, Butzer received his doctorate degree in Physical Geography and Ancient History. In 1959 Dr. Butzer started his working career when he accepted the job of Assistant Professor of Geography at the University of Wisconsin. Butzer enjoyed his work at Wisconsin for seven years and was then offered a job as the Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the University of Chicago. He accepted the job in 1966 and worked there until 1980. In 1980 he took the position of Professor of Environmental Archeology alongside Henry Schultz.
Dr. Butzer has worked on many field projects and has several published books from his field studies. In 1970, while doing fieldwork in Africa, he started writing his book, Environment and Archeology: An Ecological Approach to Prehistory. His next published book came in 1971 after his fieldwork in Ethiopia and Kenya, it was called Recent History of an Ethiopian Delta: The Omb River and the Level of Lake Rudolf. Butzer's largest field project led him to Egypt, Spain, and sub-Saharan Africa. His book Archaeology as Human Ecology came out in 1982 from this project. Butzer’s other writings are The Americas Before and After 1492 (1992), Dimensions of Human Geography (1978), Early Hydraulic Civilization in Egypt (1976), Geomorphology From the Earth (1976), Environment and Archeology (1971), and also Desert and River in Nubia (1968).
Butzer has been recognized for his excellent work with awards and honors such as, The Archaeological Institute of America, Pomerance Medal (1991); Dean’s Excellence in Research Award (1999); National Academy of Sciences (1996); Honorary Fellow, American Geographical Society (1985); Geological Society of America, Archaeological Geology Award (1985); Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984); Fellow, American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1984); Geologists’ Association of London, Henry Stopes Medal (1982); Society for American Archaeology, Fryxell Medal (1981); Association of American Geographers National Counselor (1979-82); Royal Geographical Society, Busk Medal (1979); Guggenheim Fellow (1976-77); association of American Geographers Honors Committee Chair (1974-75); Association of American Geographers Meritous Contributors Award (1968); Editor, Journal of Archaeological Science. Dr. Karl Butzer is currently the Raymond C.Dickson Centennial Professor of Liberal Arts at the University of Texas, Austin. His main interests are cultural ecology, applied geomorphology, and geo-archaeology .
Encyclopedia of American Men and Women of Science. R.R. Bowker, Database Publishing, New Jersey. 1998-99.
UT Austin TeamWeb. “Karl Butzer.” Univ. of Texas (1993). Online. Internet: http://www.utexas.edu
www.webspace.utexas.edu/butzerkw
Written by: Dan Osterloh
Edited by: Lillian Dolentz, 2008