Department mourns the passing of Dr. Sallie Ives, Associate Professor Emeritus

The department mourns the passing of Dr. Sallie Ives, Associate Professor Emeritus. Dr. Ives obtained her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois in 1977 and that same year joined her “brother in geography”, Wayne Walcott, in the Department of Geography and Earth Sciences as an Assistant Professor. Dr. Ives was promoted to Associate Professor in 1984 and was one of the Department’s most accomplished educators, significantly contributing to all areas of the Department’s teaching mission. Dr. Ives taught many different courses at the undergraduate and graduate level.  These ranged from her beloved Behavioral Geography and Applied Population Analysis classes to the Research Design course sequence she team-taught with colleague Jerry Ingalls that helped turn students into scholars.  

She was an outstanding mentor to the Department’s graduate students.  Dr. Ives served on numerous Master’s theses/internships and graduate student advisory committees.  Many of those graduate students would go on to work in degree-related industries as well as to pursue doctorates at other universities across the country.  In 1981, Dr. Ives was recognized for her exceptional contributions to this University’s teaching mission by being nominated for and subsequently winning the University’s highest honor for teaching, then named the Nations Bank Award for Excellence in Teaching, in 1992.  

Over her career, Dr. Ives published fifteen book chapters and journal articles, many of these dealing with coastal erosion and flooding from the perspective of a Behavioral Geographer.   Along with colleagues Drs. Owen Furuseth and Walter Martin, Dr. Ives helped establish the long-term focus in the department on human-environment interactions that is central to our departmental mission today.  Dr. Ives also contributed significantly to all levels of faculty governance at UNC Charlotte, including President of the Faculty (1993-1995) in addition to numerous other university and college level committees and task forces. 

In recognition of her tireless work and collaboration with a group of dedicated UNC Charlotte faculty, Dr. Ives was recruited in 1998 to create the first Teaching Center at UNC Charlotte. Dr. Ives then served as the Director for the Faculty Center of Teaching and later Faculty Center for Teaching and e-Learning from 1999 until 2009 whereupon she returned to the classroom until her retirement. This year the Center for Teaching and Learning is celebrating its 25th Anniversary.  

During Dr. Ives’ long and distinguished career she served as an incomparable mentor and friend to many and leaves behind a profound legacy.  Outside of academia, she was a devoted sister, aunt, and friend who made the best Brunswick Stew outside of the Coastal South.  Her generosity, sense of humor, and insightful commentary will be missed.