Former University of Tennessee Associate Vice Chancellor and Dean of the Graduate School and professor of geography, C.W. Minkel, was awarded the honorary degree, Doctor Honorij Causa, by the National University of Piura, Peru in September.

Minkel has spent 45 years as a Latin-American geographer and has played a part in the resolution of the boundary dispute between Peru and Ecuador in 1998 that had lasted over a century and a half.

Minkel was asked by former U.S. ambassador to the Organization of American States, Luigi Enaudi, to be a part of a three-member team to recommend a specific boundary to help resolve the dispute.

“The boundary was hard to draw because of the physical and climatic conditions of the Amazon region,” Minkel said.

But with satellite imagery provided by the U.S. geological survey, they were able to see the landscapes “as if looking out of a plane” and able to come up with a geographic line.

He said it took many negotiations before the two delegations of Ecuador and Peru could agree. He sat with his two partners at one table, with the two opposing country delegations on either side, and they were “cordial, but hostile.”

“I didn’t expect a resolution to be accepted because of vigorous reaction, but I was amazed that the two presidents agreed on a Peace Treaty in Brazil,” Minkel said. “The boundary was a real barrier with no development, but now they have the opportunity for that.”

But Minkel’s involvement with the boundary dispute dealt with a “lot of personal things in addition to planning,” he said.

He arranged for the Rector of the National University of Piura and his wife to come to Knoxville for a week to see the Tennessee Valley Authority, Oak Ridge and UT.

They were also able to meet with former Knoxville Mayor Victor Ashe and enjoyed “talking about the city government.”

Additionally, Minkel helped the Rectors’ sons find work experience in the United States, where they could study the English language.

And he also arranged for students, not only his own, but also in the department of urban and regional planning, to study in various cities of the Peru-Ecuador boundary region.

Throughout his career, Minkel has traveled with students and collaborated to publish articles for various countries. Having taught at Michigan State University for fourteen years, he has kept in touch with many former students who have not only stayed “engaged with studies in Latin America, but are also “carrying on his work.”

Minkel was president of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History for four years, was Interim Director of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, and has been Dean of graduate school for 21 years, among other things.

He speaks both Portuguese and Spanish, and he has traveled everywhere in the world, except for Eastern Europe, Mongolia and North Africa.

He is now working to publish a book of 15 maps with related text concentrated on the city of Piura. He decided to focus on migration, which he said is the largest problem there.

Working with him on the project is Robert N. Thomas, a professor of geography at Michigan State University. They will base the maps and text on the urban planning book they made on Guatemala in 1964, Minkel said.

Minkel said they have taught students at the National University of Piura to conduct interviews, and they have already totaled 1,800 interviews, detailing information on head-of-family households and migration trends.

“We’re looking at what they can do to find a system of planning, and it can be used by the city to understand problems,” he said.

Minkel expects the book to be published by the end of this year.

And he said that he speaks with Thomas over the phone frequently. He said that “looking over the things we’ve done over the years, we are amazed.”

“As dean of the graduate program for so many years, and dealing with 80 different departments, it was important to know something about everything,” Minkel said.

“By putting yourself into everything, it will help in the long run. The more you know, the more you will like, and whatever plan you have you may end up somewhere different. I never thought that I would even go to college.”

Bruce Ralston, head of the department of geography, said Minkel is a primary reason for improving education and political stability in South America.

“Dr. Minkel is the pre-eminent Latin American geographer,” Ralston said. “He actually set up geography education in several countries in Latin America. His record of activity in solving the Peru-Ecuador boundary dispute is impressive. How many academics can say they have helped bring peace to countries at war for over 100 years?”

In addition to his academic achievements, Minkel has won numerous medals in the Senior Olympics in the shotput and the discus, according to Ralston.

“He’s in much better shape than me,” Ralston said.