West Virginia University geography professor Kenneth C. Martis has co-authored a book that won top prize in its category this month at the annual awards for the Professional and Scholarly Publishing Division of the Association of American Publishers.

Historical Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections: 1788-2004(CQ Press, 2006) was named Best Single Volume Reference in Humanities and Social Sciences for 2006. The book combines history, geography and politics to provide a reference source that maps for the first time in United States history the election outcomes for all counties in every presidential election.

In addition to four-color election maps, the text of the book explains the geographical patterns of each presidential ballot and the historic trends of voting, along with items such as the changing nature of political parties and the electorate over the 216 years between 1788 and 2004.

The books four authors bring more than 100 years of combined academic experience to the project. Co-authors include J. Clark Archer and Stephen J. Lavin of the University of Nebraska and Fred M. Shelley of the University of Oklahoma.

Martis has produced five previous atlases of American politics includingThe Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress,the first-ever mapping of congressional elections.

Martis received his bachelors degree in secondary education from the University of Toledo in 1968. He went on to graduate school at San Diego State University, where he earned a masters degree in geography in 1970. He then attended the University of Michigan and graduated with a doctorate in geography.

Martis has been on the faculty of WVU s Department of Geology and Geography since 1975 and won the first WVU Benedum Distinguished Scholar Award in 1986.

The Department of Geology and Geography is housed in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

For more information, contact Martis at 304-293-5603, ext. 4320 or at Ken.Martis@mail.wvu.edu .