William D. Puzo; Expert on Africa

William D. Puzo, expert African affairs analyst and veteran professor at Cal State Fullerton who publicized students’ ignorance of geography, has died. He was 55.

He died of heart failure Feb. 13 at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton.

Puzo, who taught geography at the university for 26 years, made international news in 1984 when he published test results showing a high rate of geographic illiteracy among college students. His findings showed that 59% of those queried could not locate Japan on a map and 40% could not identify the South Pacific.

From 1975 through 1976, Puzo was a visiting professor at the University of Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland in Botswana. In 1978, he coauthored “Biogeography and Ecology of Southern Africa,” the definitive study of the apartheid-racked region.

Puzo was former president of the Fullerton-South Rotary, a political appointee to the Orange County Water Task Force and president of the Fullerton Sister City Assn. with Fukui, Japan, and Morelia, Mexico.

A native of Kingston, Pa., Puzo received his bachelor’s degree from Monmouth College in New Jersey, his master’s degree from Florida State University and his doctorate from UCLA.

He is survived by his wife, Rita, of Brea; his mother, Mary, of Pasadena; a brother, Daniel, of South Pasadena, and a sister, Dorothy, of Trenton, N.J.

A memorial service is planned for 1:30 p.m. March 22 in University Hall at Cal State Fullerton.

The family has asked that any memorial donations be sent to the William D. Puzo Memorial Scholarship Fund, c/o Associated Students, Cal State Fullerton, P.O. Box 34080, Fullerton, CA 92634-9480.