UCGIS Fellows Program

Since 2010, UCGIS has acknowledged those individuals who have contributed to the advancement of geographic information science and technology. The grade of Fellow is bestowed on the recipient who has had an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the spatial disciplines and communities of practice that use spatial information to complement and support their business operations or personal activities.

The Fellows Program seeks to represent all people involved in the spatial community by drawing on the following descriptions of spatial disciplines and communities of practice:

Spatial disciplines – cartography, computer science, geodesy, geography, geographic information science, global positioning systems, photogrammetry, remote sensing, surveying

Communities of practice – agriculture, defense, education, emergency management, forestry, health, environment, land administration, local government, natural resource management, tourism, transportation, urban planning, landscape architecture, and more

Candidates for Fellow must be nominated by a lead delegate of a UCGIS member institution or an existing Fellow. Candidates for Fellow should have an extraordinary record of accomplishments in any of the spatial disciplines and communities of practice that intersect with the core area of Geographic Information Science and Technology within UCGIS. Candidates with exceptional service to UCGIS will receive extra consideration, but it is not necessary that a candidate have provided service to UCGIS in order to be elected to Fellow. Exceptional service to the greater GIScience and Technology community will also be consider highly desirable.  

A nomination form must be accompanied by at least three and no more than six letters of support as described in the nominating instructions.  UCGIS provides a collection of frequently asked questions that might help.

A brief citation is issued to new Fellows describing their accomplishments.

Below are three links that contain information on all of the Fellows of the UCGIS. The primary purpose of this page is to serve as a resource for any UCGIS fellow nominator seeking references for their candidate. The first link is listed by date order. It contains the Fellow's full name and citation. The second link is listed in alphabetical order by family name and it contains the Fellow's full name, citation, and the year he/she became a UCGIS Fellow. The third link shows the most recent class of Fellows. It contains the Fellow's full name and citation.

Chronological list of Fellows

Alphabetical list of Fellows

2010 Class of Fellows

UCGIS Fellows Program History

The grade of Fellow was approved by the Board of Directors at the 2009 UCGIS Summer Assembly. The grade of Fellow is intended to recognize geographic information scientists, engineers, and practitioners who have demonstrated outstanding scholarship  and achieved distinction in the profession.

Three scholars were chosen by the UCGIS Board of Directors as the (first class) 2010 Class of Fellows for their service contribution as UCGIS president in addition to their exemplary record of scholarship contributing to geographic information science.

From 2010 onwards, candidates for Fellow will be nominated by a lead delegate of a UCGIS member institution or an existing Fellow. Candidates will be elected to Fellow by the Board of Directors. The total number of elected Fellows in any one year does not exceed six individuals.

"FELLOW – a geographic information scientist, engineer or practitioner of unusual professional distinction, with outstanding and extraordinary qualifications and experience in the field of geographic information science and technology."

Elements of Nomination

To nominate an individual for the Grade of Fellow, the initiating sponsor shall provide UCGIS headquarters with the following information in the sequence outlined by 31 October. The nomination may be submitted to headquarters as a Microsoft Word signed document attached to an e-mail, sent to the attention of Jack Sanders at ucgis@cox.net . Alternatively, you may send six copies by postal mail to:

UCGIS
Fellow Committee
PO Box 15079
Alexandria, VA 22309

Instructions and Nomination Forms

Please find the forms to download below.