The Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group (GISSG) seeks to honor senior scholars for sustained and effective research contributions in geographic information science and/or systems. This honor, the Dr. Robert Aangeenbrug Distinguished Career Award, is bestowed once each year based on a protracted record of published research and/or other outstanding achievements. Nominations will be judged by the Awards Committee consisting of three GISSG board members.
The AAG GISSG established its Distinguished Career Award in 2004 and named it in honor of Robert T. Aangeenbrug. Dr. Robert Aangeenbrug had a distinguished career including service as the chair of the Department of Geography at the University of South Florida, Executive Director of the Association of American Geographers, and Professor of Geography. One of the pioneers in Geographic Information Systems (GIS), he lectured at the Harvard Laboratory for Computer Graphics in the 1960s and directed the Wichita Falls Urban Information systems Project from 1970-1973. In 1980 he served as project director for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) National Flood Mapping Project. He also served as president of the Urban and Regional Information Systems Association (URISA) and as president of the National Computer Graphics Association (NCGA). In the mid-1980s he was one of the principal motivating forces in the formation of the AAG Geographic Information Science and Systems Specialty Group (GISSG).
Eligibility
The recipient of this honor need not be a member of the Association of American Geographers or identify themselves specifically as a geographer, but their contribution, e.g. research, teaching, government, and/or commercial development, must be deemed of great importance and relevance to geographers. Furthermore, this contribution must be largely concerned with or applicable to Geographic Information Systems and Science. The contribution may extend over a period of several decades but should also include evidence of active work in the past ten years.
Nominations
Nominations are to be submitted by an AAG GISSG member. Nominations should include a statement detailing why this individual’s career is worthy of distinction in the field of Geographic Information Systems and Science. The statement should outline the nominee’s career achievements, and may provide a portrait of their personality, methods, personal history, and other biographical information. Career achievements may include publications, professional posts held, influence on government and policy, students mentored, systems development, and other measures of an effective career in Geographic Information Systems and Science. In addition, a bibliography of relevant publications should be included. Nominations that are not successful in the year that they are submitted may be retained by the Awards Committee for consideration in the following year, after which time they will be considered inactive.
Past Winners
2015: Dr. Timothy Nyerges. Professor of Geography, University of Washington
2014: Dr. Gerard Rushton. Emeritus Professor of Geography, University of Iowa
2013: Dr. David Mark. Professor of Geography, University at Buffalo, SUNY
2012: Dr. David Cowen. Professor of Geography, University of South Carolina
2011: Dr. Donna Peuquet. Professor of Geography, Pennsylvania State University
2010: Dr. J. Ronald Eastman. Professor of Geography, Clark University
2009: Dr. Jerome Dobson. Professor of Geography, University of Kansas
2008: Dr. Arthur Getis. Emeritus Professor of Geography, San Diego State University
2007: Dr. Duane Marble, Emeritus Professor of Geography at The Ohio State University
2006: Michael F. Goodchild, Emeritus Professor of Geography at The University of California, Santa Barbara
2005: Roger Tomlinson, Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society