Michael Chisholm was a pioneer in the development of Economic Geography as an analytical and quantitative sub-discipline from the 1960s and its use of location theory. He was also pre-eminent in developing its applications to practical policy, ranging from regional economic development to reforms of local government. In his later years he made a formidable contribution to Fenland history, demonstrating that navigation was as important as drainage to the Fens. He claimed to have re-written the assessment of the role of monasteries and the competence of Anglo-Saxon engineers in this development. He was widely recognised as a highly effective organiser able to focus on presenting academic arguments to wider communities. He was a leading figure in the move to have human geography accepted within the Social Science Research Council and became the first chair of its Geography Committee. He was president of the Institute of British Geographers, and played major roles as a commissioner in the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, the Development Commission (later called Rural Development Commission), and the Local Government Commission for England. He was also a member of the Conservators of the River Cam 1979–2007 and of the Spalding Gentlemen’s Society 2012–19.
Posted to Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the British Academy, 22