Alumni Profile: Greg Hitchcock

Here is our profile of UW Geography alum Greg Hitchcock: When did you graduate from the department, and with what degree? I graduated with a BA in Geography and a minor in Computer Science in 1986. Who was your favorite (or most memorable) faculty member? Michael Brown What is your current job? I’m a development lead at Microsoft working on Reading and Typeface design. My job involves leading a team that researches how we read and developing software and typefaces to make it easier to read on computer screens. Geography helped me in at least two ways. First, I felt I got exposed to some great breadth. Geography gave me foundations in statistics, economics, history, geology, computer graphics, computer databases (GIS), and cartography. Second, my emphasis was in computer cartography. This field has a very rich tradition that goes back hundreds of years as a craft involving art and the latest technology. The field I got into at Microsoft, especially with typeface design, shares much of the same traditions. (Ironically I was asked to help start a geography group at Microsoft in the mid-1990’s, but I turned it down because I was so deeply involved in typography.) Do you have any advice for graduating seniors on what to do when applying for their first job? Be confident in yourself and your education. Can geography students contact you for advice? Yes, contact me at gregh (at) microsoft (dot) com .