Dr. Durand joined the faculty of the university’s Department of Geography in 1944 where he served until his retirement in 1969. He was internationally renowned as an agricultural and economic geographer and a leading authority on the dairy industry. He served as editor of the Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters (1935–44), was geography editor for the World Book Encyclopedia (1944–47), and the Grolier Encyclopedia (1958). He wrote numerous professional articles and prepared many reports and maps on land planning. He was author and coauthor of a series of geography textbooks including World Geography (1954), Living Together as World Neighbors (1959), and Economic Geography (1961). In 1950 Dr. Durand served as president of the National Council of Geography Teachers and in 1951 as vice president of the Association of American Geographers. His contributions to the intellectual life of the university have been recognized by the placement of a plaque in his honor on a faculty study.