ASU Professor Emeritus Malcolm L. Comeaux remembered
Malcolm L. Comeaux. Courtesy photo
Malcolm L. Comeaux, professor emeritus of geography in Arizona State University’s School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning, died on Sept. 9, leaving a legacy shaped by more than three decades of teaching, scholarship and service to geography education in Arizona.
Comeaux joined ASU in 1969 and served on the faculty until his retirement in 2001. For 32 years, he taught generations of students in courses on Arizona and the Southwest, cultural and historical geography, the geography of Europe, the history of geographic thought and world regional geography.
His commitment to education extended far beyond ASU’s classrooms. In 1992, Comeaux and Professor Emeritus Robert Mings co-founded the K–12 outreach initiative Arizona Geographic Alliance with support from the National Geographic Society. What began with nine Arizona teachers grew into a statewide network providing educators with geography training, lesson plans, maps, field experiences and professional development.
By 2021, the alliance had reached more than 1 million Arizona students and nearly 20,000 teachers.
“Malcolm was my close friend for more than 50 years,” Mings said. “We shared a passion for the Arizona Geographic Alliance and all of the good work that it does helping to educate students and teachers about the importance of geography in our world.”
At workshops, Comeaux reminded educators: “I have just as much to learn from you, as you do from me.” That collaborative philosophy helped shape an organization that continues to strengthen geography education across the state.
Teacher, mentor and storyteller
A native of southern Louisiana, Comeaux earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Southwestern Louisiana, now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette; his master’s degree from Southern Illinois University; and his doctorate from Louisiana State University. His doctoral research examined settlement and folk occupations in Louisiana’s Atchafalaya Basin.
His scholarship reflected a curiosity about places, people and culture. His research spanned cultural diffusion and change, historical geography, the American Southwest, Europe, French Louisiana and geographic education. He wrote extensively on Cajun material culture, society and economy and authored “Arizona: A Geography” and “Atchafalaya Swamp Life: Settlement and Folk Occupations.” His scholarship continued well into retirement, with publications appearing through 2017.
His teaching and mentorship earned recognition, including the National Council for Geographic Education’s Distinguished Teaching Achievement Award in 1997, a Presidential Citation for Distinguished Service from Gamma Theta Upsilon in 1998, the Arizona Council for the Social Studies’ Wilbur Murra Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999, ASU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Distinguished Teaching Award in 2001 and Distinguished Teaching Honors from the Association of American Geographers in 2002. In 2006, the National Council for Geographic Education honored him with its Distinguished Mentor Award.
Remembered by colleagues
Comeaux’s colleagues remember him not only for his contributions to geography, but also for the personal relationships he maintained throughout his career.
President’s Professor Randy Cerveny recalled the lengths Comeaux would go to support those around him.
“My greatest memory of Malcolm was that he drove 1,000 miles from Louisiana to attend my wedding,” Cerveny said. “He was a person who always believed personal relationships with colleagues, staff and students were very important. A truly classy guy.”
Professor Robert “Bob” Balling recalled more than four decades of working alongside Comeaux.
“Every time I saw him, he was smiling, and every time I saw him, he made me smile. People like Malcolm make the university business a dream come true.”
Professor Wei Li said Comeaux remained connected to the school after retiring.
“Malcolm still cared about and supported the school,” Li said. “He would stop by the offices of newly hired faculty members to welcome them and answer emails from junior faculty members to encourage and support them.”
Professor Martin “Mike” Pasqualetti said Comeaux played a pivotal role in bringing him to ASU.
“Malcolm and I were friends for almost half a century. We became friends when we were both graduate students at LSU in the late 1960s,” Pasqualetti said. “In 1976, he wrote to me about an upcoming vacancy in ASU’s geography department and asked if I wanted to apply. I did, and I have been here ever since. I would not be at ASU without him.”
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ASU professors emeritus Robert Mings (far left) and Malcolm Comeaux (far right) with the Arizona Geographic Alliance’s founding group of nine teachers in 1993.
Photo courtesy of Heather Moll
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Arizona Geographic Alliance educators and participants gather during a 2021 program. The K–12 outreach initiative provided Arizona teachers with geography resources, professional development and leadership training.
Photo courtesy of Gale Ekiss
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From left to right: Randy Cerveny, Patricia Gober and Malcolm Comeaux at ASU in the 1980s.
Photo courtesy of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
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Ray Henkel and Malcolm Comeaux during a 1982 Gamma Theta Upsilon hike at Mount Baldy in Arizona’s White Mountains.
Photo courtesy of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
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From left: Heidi McGowan, Malcolm Comeaux, William “Bill” Easterling III of Penn State University, David Sailor and Billie Turner at the 2023 Malcolm L. Comeaux Lecture at ASU.
Photo courtesy of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
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Malcolm Comeaux examines the only remaining serviceable pirogue in the Atchafalaya Basin.
Photo courtesy of the School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning
A legacy carried forward at ASU
Comeaux helped strengthen the intellectual community around geography at ASU through school colloquia, forums, brown bag discussions, invited lectures, professional meetings and educator conferences. He served as faculty adviser to ASU’s Gamma Theta Upsilon geographical honor society for more than 30 years and organized Friends for Geography from 1991 to 2003.
In recognition of his 32 years of service, the Malcolm L. Comeaux Lecture Endowment was established in ASU’s Department of Geography in 2001. The endowment supports an annual public lecture by a distinguished geographer, continuing Comeaux’s commitment to bring exciting new geographic ideas to students, faculty, alumni and the broader community.
That tradition continues this fall with the 2026 Malcolm L. Comeaux Lecture on Thursday, Nov. 12.
Park Williams, a professor of geography at UCLA, will present “Why Have We Lost Control of Wildfire in the Western United States?” A reception begins at 4:30 p.m., followed by a tribute to Comeaux’s memory and the lecture from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Memorial Union on ASU’s Tempe campus. The program will also be available virtually through ASU Live.
Learn more about the Malcolm L. Comeaux Lecture and RSVP to attend.
For the students, educators and colleagues who learned from Comeaux, his influence remains woven into the geography community he spent decades helping build at ASU, in Arizona classrooms and throughout the field.
Those wishing to honor Comeaux’s legacy may support the Malcolm L. Comeaux Lecture Endowment or Geography Gifts through the ASU Foundation.
Written in collaboration by Ron Dorn and Martin "Mike" Pasqualetti with support from Ariana Pup.
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