De Blij was born in
Schiedam, the Netherlands, and received his early schooling in Europe. He received his B.Sc. from the
University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa in 1955, and his M.A. in 1957 and Ph.D. in 1959 in the United States from
Northwestern University. He published more than 30 books and over 100 articles and has received five honorary degrees. Several of his books have been translated into foreign languages. He was the editor of Oxford's
Atlas of North America. A native of the
Netherlands, he was a professor of geography and
viticulture at
Michigan State University and the
University of Miami and a visiting professor at the
Colorado School of Mines. Dr. de Blij was a Distinguished Professor of Geography at Michigan State University. He held the George Landegger Chair in Georgetown University's school of Foreign Service and the John Deaver Drinko chair of geography at Marshall University; he also taught at the Colorado School of Mines and the University of Miami. ==Recognitions==