Joining Robinson in the East European Section as Assistant Chief was John A. Morrison, a geographer from the University of Chicago specializing in the Soviet Union. Like his boss, Morrison was a pioneer in the study of the USSR and was the first professor to offer a course on Russian geography in an American college or university.37 While Morrison was easygoing and more apt than Robinson to see some humor in the often stressful conditions under which R&A scholars worked, he still approached his wartime duties with the belief that people’s lives depended on it. Robinson thought that Morrison had a "contagious enthusiasm" which contributed to his "particularly attractive personality."38 As the director of the Chicago chapter of the Committee to Defend America, Morrison felt as strongly as Robinson that America’s place was in the war.39