David H. Kaplan

David Howard Kaplan is an American geographer, academic, and author. He is a professor of geography at Kent State University. Kaplan is an author/editor of over a dozen books, including Landscapes of the Ethnic Economy; Urban Geography; Nested Identities: Nationalism, Territory, and Scale; Human Geography; and Navigating Ethnicity: Segregation, Place Making, and Difference. He is also the author of more than 70 articles and book chapters. His research is focused in urban and regional ethnicity, dynamics of residential segregation, urban economies, concepts of nationalism, and sustainable transportation. He is a Fellow of the American Association of Geographers (AAG). Kaplan has served as both Vice President and President of the AAG (elected President from 2019 to 2020 following his vice presidency in the preceding year). In March 2023, Kaplan gave his Past-President’s address calling for greater inclusion in the field of Geography. In addition to being a Councilor for the American Geographical Society (AGS), he has been the National Co-director of the Race, Ethnicity, and Place Conferences since 2022. He also holds an appointment as the Editor-in-Chief of Geographical Review, Series Editor of Exploring Geography, and Editor of National Identities. Born on September 28, 1960 in Worcester, Massachusetts, Kaplan earned a B.A. in Humanities with a concentration in English Literature and History from The Johns Hopkins University in 1982. He obtained an M.S. (1986) and a Ph.D. (1991) in Geography from the University of Wisconsin – Madison. Kaplan's academic career began at the University of Southern California and later at the University of St. Thomas. He joined Kent State University in 1995 and has been a Professor there since 2005. He has also held appointments as the LaCoste Chair of Geopolitics at the French Institute of Geopolitics, University of Paris 8 in 2011; Carroll Professor of Urban Studies at the University of Oregon in spring 2014; and as a Distinguished Visiting professor at Henan University's School of Geography and Environment in summer 2022.