Forever Changed

 Forever changed vignettes

* Resolving to grasp opportunity * Sharing the Islamic faith * Heeding a call to serve * Providing a means of expression * Honoring an alumnus, a friend * Helping to tell the world

The Most Reverend Recycler

Calling Their Shots

To Love, Honor & Collaborate

Rookie of the Year

International Waters

	Joe Ferguson, shown here during a National Geographic Society trip, was a passenger on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon Sept. 11. Associate Professor of Geography Hugh Bloemer is establishing a scholarship in memory of the former graduate student. Photo courtesy of the National Geographic Society

Honoring an alumnus, a friend

Associate Professor of Geography Hugh Bloemer appreciated Joe Ferguson's friendship more than he ever expressed. Now, he hopes the scholarship fund he's establishing in memory of his former teaching assistant can convey that appreciation.

Ferguson, who worked for Bloemer in the mid-1980s while pursuing a master's degree at Ohio University, was among the 64 people killed when American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. The director of the National Geographic Society's Geography Education Outreach Program was traveling with a colleague, three sixth-grade students and three of their teachers to the Channel Islands off the coast of Santa Barbara, Calif., for a marine research project.

"I kept in touch with Joe all these years," Bloemer says. "I would rarely go to Washington and not meet up with Joe for lunch or at his office. Whatever you needed, he would never fail you. He was just a prince of a man." Bloemer relied on Ferguson's generosity as well as his friendship. When his mentor needed atlases or trinkets to use as geography contest prizes, Ferguson gladly came through.

The summer after wrapping up his commitment to Bloemer in 1987, Ferguson landed an internship with the National Geographic Society that evolved into a full-time position. As director of the society's education program, he inspired teachers and students across the country to delve into the study of geography.

"He was incredibly dedicated and had an amazing rapport with children," says the National Geographic Society's Bob Radzyminski, BA '67, who enjoyed sharing an Ohio University connection with Ferguson. "We were deeply, deeply saddened to lose him."

In a story that appears on the National Geographic Society's Web site along with dozens of letters of condolence, President and CEO John Fahey says Ferguson was extraordinarily committed to improving geography education in America's classrooms.

"Joe Ferguson's final hours at the Geographic reveal the depth of his commitment to one of the things he really loved," Fahey remembers. "Joe was here in the office until late Monday evening (Sept. 10) preparing for this trip to the Channel Islands -- an extraordinary experience for the teachers and particularly the young students. It was his goal to make this trip perfect in every way."